The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-01-23 00:00:00

CONTE3IPORARY PRESS.

THE GLASGOW COTTON SPINNERS.
(From the Munchesler Courier. )
The trial of the live men charged with murder, con-
spiracy, and other off-nces, at Glasgow, terminated on
Thursday week, in the convic:ion of the p►isoriers on
charges of conspiracy and assault ; that of murder be-
ing declared " not proven." It appears that this com-
bination has existed twenty years; and so long ago as
182& or 1821, a murder was committed and others at-
tempted. Of recent proceedings we have the following
startling account in the Glasgow Courier:—

" Within the last four months three murders of a most diabo;
bolical description have been perpetrated in the heart of this
great city ; and at this moment outrages against persons and
property are so common in the immediate neighbourhood, that
additional protection has been required, and will be immediately
procured."

"Besides murders actually committed, there have been,
during the existence of this association, several atroci-
ous attempts to murder, cases of injury to the person by
throwing vitriol, and various acts of incendiarism, all
perpetrated by order of a " secret committee," who paid
agents to perform their diabolical work, and paid them
out of the funds of the association. It was stated by
one of the witnesses, that the chief purpose of this com-
mittee was understood to be " to destroy life and pro-
pertg." The existence of such a tribunal is a stain upon
the moral character of the country, which all men who
desire the peace and happiness of society must wish to
remove. We have copied from our able contemporary,
the Glasgow Courier, an account of the manner in which
this diabolical council of murderers is constructed :
"The secret select committee was formed in this way :—A
card was left at each spinning factory or shop, 'desiring the
parties working there to send a delegate by a certain day to the
central committee rooms, at the Black Boy Tavern, in the Gal-
lowgate. It was perfectly understood by the association what
the object of this summons was, and persons suited to the re-
quired work were accordingly returned. These delegates, who
were 38 in number, then nominated a sub-committee of l'2 from
amongst themselves. With this body resided the power of ap-
pointing the "secret select committee," which they did in the
following ominous manner:—They met in a darkened room in
the Black Boy Tavern, each man bringing with him the name
of the person whom he had chosen, written on a slip of paper.
These slips were put into a hat and given to Peter Hackett, the
treasurer, who withdraw and examined them. The "secret
select committee," consisted of but three persons, and the first
three names which this functionary took out of the hat were,
accurdin" to rule, the parties upon whom the choice of the body
fell. Having satisfied himself upon this point, he burnt the
slips, and then returned to the room, where the sub-committee
where assembled, he dissolved the committee without uttering
one word as to whom the lot had fallen upon. These persans
were privately informed of the result, and this dime the secret
select corninittee were duly constituted. The objects of the
committee were nakedly and literally murder, maiming, assault,
or wilful fire-raising; it was likewise enjoyed to suborn wit-
nesses, that an aliU might he attempted to be proved, if neces-
sary; and the reward for these crimes was graduated by a fixed
scale, calculated, no doubt, according to the notions entertained
of their relative importance. Thus £2O, wee given for a mur-
der or fire-raising, and £lO or £l5, for lesser injuries, such as
throwing vitriol, violent assaults, or breaking of limbs. It does
not appear, however, that any of the three who constituted the
" select committee," were necessarily the executioneets of this
new system of Thuggery. They might be so, but they had
higher duties to perform ; they were the executive council of
this body of patriots, and had nobler functions assigned to them.
Their proper
office was to hire assassins, or incendiaries, to
" do the job,". and to arrange with the persons so employed as
to the price they were to receive. " No, 60," was the well-
known expression among these people fur the loose hands who
were ready for this work, and there are various entries in the
books of large sums—in one instance of £2-1 16s.—as paid to
this cabalistic number. There was also a peculiarity about the
mode of payment, which strikingly marks the beastly nature
of the whole transaction. When the job" was done the per-
petrator did nut receive any money from the " secret select
committee," though they were his real employers. He was re-
ferred to the treasurer, the aforementioned "Master Hackett,
who met him in the house of one Christie, a publican, The
room where these worthies encountered each other was, as usual
dark, and Peter having laid a sum upon the table the " jobber"
was directed to grope for it, to take all he could get, and then
to depart. In this way the persons who employed him did not
pay him, and the person who paid him had uo direct concern iu
Iris employment."

"So complete was its organization," says our con-
temporary, " and so merciless its vengeance, that it both
baffled and paralyzed the arms of justice. No witness
{Jared give evidence aginst it, except at the risk of being
shot, or drenched with vitriol, or assaulted, or burnt out
of his house." Indeed no stronger proof of its terrible
influence need he adduced than the fact, that the wit-
nesses who were to give evidence on the trial were
obliged to give their information to the authorities at
night and by stealth, and were, at their own request,
conveyed to gaol for safety !
This system of combination has unfortunately been too
common of late yeats, and every where it appears to be
accompanied with crime. Our readers will remember
the atrocious murder of Mr. Thomas Ashton, of Hyde,
seven years ago ; the attempts to murder two other- mas-
ter spinners, soon afterwards, during the turn-out at
Ashton and Stalybridge ; and the outrages that were
committed during the turn-out at Bolton in the preced.
ing year. We have, we are sorry to say, more recent
evidence of the existence of combination of a dangerous
character in this neighbourhood. Our columns this day
contain a report of the trial of three men at the Salford
sessions, on Wednesday last, charged with conspiracy,
and with riot and assault, on the sth of the present
month, for the purpose of intimidating the workpeople
in the employ of Mr. Guest. We have frequently had
occasion to report cases -of assault committed by the
turn-outs, and since the trial we have received particu.
Lars of some others, of a brutal nature; the whole prov-
ing the existence of a completely organized system of

In Dublin a similar system of combination has been
in existence for some time. At a recent meeting of the
trades it was stated that it had been the practice to pay
what was called a slating rent, the object of which was
'to assist in paying ruffians for beating, perhaps murder-
ing,.their citizens, or persons who refused to join their
body ! We are far from thinking that such detestable
practices have the approbation of the great body of the
operatives. We believe, on the contrary, that the insti-
plots and perpetrators of crime are few in number ;
but through their mysterious and secret mode of opera-
tion, they-have obtained an appalling influence over the
minds of their fellow.workmen. It is time, however,
that•a system so dreadful should be put down. The
conviction and punishment of the Glasgow conspirators
may do something towards effecting this object ; but
government will not discharge its duty if it stop short in
its exertions to bring the guilty to justice, or hesitate to
adopt the necessary measures to prevent the repetition
of such atrocious crimes.

LORD DURHAM'S MISSION.
( From the Standard.)
There is much to commend, and nothing to disapprove
of in Lord Durham's speech of Wednesday. If his
lordship act in the spirit of that. speech his administra-
tion will be, in all human probability, beneficial to the
empire, and to the colony over which he is appointed to
preside, and he may defy all the chances of fortune to
`render his government otherwise than honourable to
himself. We can imagine no principles better conceived
or more properly professed than those which the noble
earl avowed in the following sentence :—" My ditty is,
in the first instance, to assert the supremacy of her .Ma-
jesty's government, and to vindicate in the next the dig-
nity and honour of the law, taking care that it is not set
-at nought in the remotest cabin, in the remotest settle-
ment in Canada, and I shall feel that I have not per-
formed that duty while the dignity of the Crown re-
mains
assailed." This is the language of the faithful
representative of a constitutional Sovereign, who feels
that he receives power, not for personal aggrandisement,
or in order to serve a party interest, but to assert the au-
thority of the law.
Lord Durham was at some pains to acquit himself of
the suspicion that he would conduct his government for
the advantage of a particular Canadian party. After
the. declaration which we have quoted, these pains were
,unnecessary. The governor who maintains the autho-
rity of his Sovereign and of the law, can be no party
magistrate.. , He will have supporters, because the crown
and law have supporters. These supporters will be
called a party or a faction, for when were rebels at a loss
for nicknames ? but HIS will be the party °fall loyal and
'good-mem; and if be be a wise man he will be neither
'ashamed of the imputation of preferring and encourag-
ing that misnamed party, nor afraid to deserve it.
It is for the advantage of the traitorous enemies of or- •
der and good government to establish the doctrine, that
as all.men-must be party men, the virtuous and loyal are
hot a party like themselves, and that justice must take
the middle path between : by the establishment of this
doctrine, they have gained much in our time ; hut the
doctrine is equally opposed to truth and to sound policy,
The adherents to the settled constitution and the law
can never be in the nnfavourable sense a party—they
re the state; the invaders of the constitution and the
law by any irregular means are rebel faction. To
compromise between the two is not to administer justice
to opposite claimants with equal rights, hut to surrender
to the robber half his coveted spol, which, so surren-
dered, will never satisfy; for what is yielded, upon any
• other grounds than the demand of justice, will be be-
lieved to have been wrung from fear, and the claims of
'the unjust from the timid are insatiable while anything
Tmains.
"Lord Durham says that he will not known Frenchman
from a British settler : the promise is a wise and Ito,
riourable promise, but let It be faithfully observed
. throughout. If his lordship will not know a loyal
Frenchman to discountenance him, because he is a
Frenchman, neither let him allow the plea of French
-scent to palliate the guilt of a traitor. On the other
'hand, if British birth or race shall not, as we hope it
wilt not, excuse the crime of any degfterate rebel, it
must not detract from the merit of lo;.-ally. " Law,"
says,the philosopher, " is mind without passion." And
.sushi as law is, legal government ought to be. In our
time, the passions against which the depository of legal
power has most diligently to guard himself, are the love
cf a spurious popularity, and the fear of unmerited ob-
loquy : against these besetting temptations there is but

one sure protection—to make loyalty and obedience to
the law, and zeal for its honour, the sole criterion of
public character, the sole passport to official faysour. Let
ihe law, justice, and the right of his Sovereign be Lord
Durham's guides, and he cannot err—but we tell him
frankly what he must expect in that case. He will be
called a party man falsely, and lie will be called a fa-
vourer of Tories and Orangenen with truth. This last
imputation has been earned by Sir Francis Head, who
went to Canada at heart as liberal a politician as his
lordship. On the other hand, by doing his duty as lie
promises, his lordship will lose something. He will not
lose the colony for his royal mistress, it is true, but he
will lose the praises of the whole army of traitors
throughout the world. The Papineaus, Browns, and
APKenzies will not attend his levees; Messrs. Hume
and O'Connell will proclaim anything but his praise.
He will be, and he will beheld up to be, the contrast of
Lord Mulgrare. We, however, hope much from Lord
Durham. In the words of a provincial contemporary,
the Oxford Herald—
" We have a favourable opinion of Lord Durham's designs
in the last resort, as we have always had of his father-in-law's,
Lord Grey, though both, and particularly the former, may have
been bent a great deal the wrong way by mere party politics..
Now there is no cure for the democratical disease like a close
acquaintance with the workings of democracy—here the doc-
trines of " hommopathy" are indisputably sound—and we have
little doubt that Lord Durham will return from Canada, a Con-
servative as staunch as Sir Francis Bond Head, who went thither
a strong Radical. At all events, the country is indebted to
Lord Melbourne for not sending Lord Brougham, of whom be
is at least as anxious to get rid as he can be to get rid of Lord
Durham. much as the last named noble lord stands in his way."

POLICE INTELLIGENCE. •

AssAuLT.—On Friday at the Police-office, a Frenchman,
who keeps a lodging-house for the reception of foreign sailors,
Wes placed at the bar on a charge of assault. The captain of a
foreign vessel at present in port—himself a foreigner, but speak-
ing remarkably good English--stated that his ship had
been robbed by some of the seamen„ whom he had traced to
the house of the prisoner. About seven o'clock on Wednesday
evening, accompanied by another person, he consequently
went there, and, while speaking to the prisoner's wit'e at the
door, the prisoner himself rushed out, struck and knocked
down the complainant, then struck his companion, and, when
a policeman was called, struck him also. Prisoner.—" Struck
de tree! Ma Got, vat a lie! I struck de tree and knock de
too .down! How vas I able to knock down de tree ? I have
not de ability, de puissance, de power to strike a man since
twelve month. Mine fingers are gone, you see. Twelve month
since, de police break mine head and cut mine fingers ; dere is
tree cuts on my head, which was make me light-headed • and
how vas I able to knock tie tree down ? De police vas light-headed;
me very well. But it vas eleven o'clock yen he com'd to my
house, as I vas asleep vid toy shill, I know it vas; and I heard
a cry of ' Murder!' yen I vent down to see. But he vas dere
on Vednesday morning. and said he would call at eight o'clock,
and I did not known it; and dere came a stone to toy face, too,
which cut my head, and I did not know who hove it." The
magistrate said that his assertion of being well known to the
police was perfectly correct; they knew hint perfectly well as
the keeper of a very bad house; and his conduct in assaulting
the person who cain to his house in pursuit of the thieves was
most reprehensible. He was fined 40s. and costs, and ordered
to find bail to keep the peace.

THICKS OF A BAILIFF.—On Friday, at the Police-office, a
somewhat goodly-looking bailiff—that is, he was not a thin,
scarecrow,'hung,ry-looking, ill-favoured thing, like the generality
of that respectable and popular class, and might therefore be
considered as a natural phenomenon, was charged by Mrs:
Ann Jaickson and her daughter Mrs. Milne with having taken
away the brass plate from their door, and then demanded for its
restitution the sum of 6s. The bailiff pleaded that he had the
authority of Mrs. Milne's husband for what he had done, and
also for seizing upon other atticles which were his property,
The policeman who had taken him into custody handed to the
magistrate a paper, which the bailiff called his warrant. Mr.
Hall truly characterized it as " a most extraordinary docu-
rnen;" it was a mere personal authorization, written by Milne
himself, to the following effect :—" I hereby authorize V.dward
Smeatham and John Proctor, or any other persons they may
choose to associate with them, to seize all my property, con-
, sisting of [something good, as well as Mr. Hall could decipher
if] and likewise other articles which I have pointed out to them."
The magistrate, after severely reprimanding the bailiff for his
conduct, remarked that there was no class of men who practised
more oppression on the poor than the bailiffs; they were-a
miserable set of fellows. The complainant was hampered, he
believed, with a worthless husband, who had left her to be partly
supported by her mother, and yet he (the bailiff) went to her
house to seize property, and with a document which he no
doubt knew was perfectly worthless. The bailiff, pleaded that
when he became acquainted with the true circumstances of the
case he had refused to give up the brass plate to the husband,
and, marvellous to relate, he felt sorry for the two females!
Magistrate.—lf I find you lending any assistance to Mrs.
Milne's husband to annoy her in future, you may depend upon
it you shall be very severely punished. Bailiff-1 shall not
behave so again; indeed, sir, I intend to give him a very good
scolding. Mrs. Milne, hearing this fellow "out-Ilerod Herod"
with his pretended sympat hyand regard tojustice,declared that he
had kept the plate himself, not because he thought her husband
acted wrongly, but that he might extort money front her.
When she begged that it might he restored, he used the most
disgusting language to her, and said she should not have it un-
less she paid him Bs. The bailiff was beginning a defence,
when the magistrate said, " Go about your business, and take
care how you conduct youiself." The brass plate was, of course,
rustored to the owner.

STEALING Ittora.—On Friday, at the Police-office, John
Goodacre, William Evans, William Pennington, and Ste-
venson, (the first two and the last being in the, employ of the
Chester and Ellesmere Canal Company, Goodacre as warehouse-
man,) were brought up on a charge of having stolen a quantity
of bar iron, about 51 cwt. It appeared from the evidence pro-
duced, that the iron in question was deposited in a shed or ware-
house on the wharf of the Chester and Ellesmere Canal Com-
pany; it did not, however, belong to that company, but had been
left in their charge by Messrs. Fairhurst, Tilston, and Co., the
,former occupiers of the wharf. Early on Wednesday afternoon,
Evans called upon one John Travis, a blacksmith, in Frederick-
street. with whom he had been some time acquainted, and inti-
mated to him that he could let bins have a great bargain in iron.
Travis, however, refused to, purchase until he knew to whom the
property belonged, and, having then to go out, promised to re-
turn at a specified time and accompany. Evans to the owner.
On returning he found that the iron had been brought' to his
smithy during hi' absence, and, determined to have nothing to
do with it under such suspicious circumstances, called in 'Wm.
-lon, a police-officer, and transferred it into his custody. This
led to the apprehension of the prisoners. Goodacre was taken
into custody on account of the assertion of Evans, that " they
had obtained the iron from the warehouseman, and were to sell
:it for as much as could be obtained, and divide the money
amongst them."—Benjamin Bennett, the carter who had been
employed to take the iron from the wharf to Frederick-street,
deposed that he had been employed by Evans, and that he saw
Pennington both at the wharf and at the smithy. Pennington
declared that he had never suspected there was anv thing wrong
in the transaction. " How could I," he demanded, " when I
saw the warehouseman engaged in it?" Ile sincerely wished,
" that he had had nothing to do with it; he had suffered enough
already during the last two nights in bridewell." The ware-
houseman denied all knowledge of the transaction, on which
Pennington exclaimed, " You tell lies to clear yourself; you
are the biggest rogue on the bench."— Mr. Hall observed, that
the misfortune in the present case was, that the most guilty party
would escape, on account of the lack of evidence against him.
He had no doubt that the prisoners were speaking truth when
they implicated the warehouseman; but there was a legal diffi-
culty in the way, and he should be obliged to discharge loin.
After animadverting with severity, as he has hitherto done, on
the conduct of warehousemen in this town, who " betray the
confidence of their Pm ployei s, and carry on a system of plunder,"
he said, that if other evidence could be produced against Good-
acre, he should be very happy to deal with him. He hoped,
however, that his employers would have nothing to do with him,
and of course they could give him no recommendation. The in-
formations were ordered to be taken against Evans and Pen-
nington; the other two were discharged.