131-654: Samuel Smiles (23 December 1812 – 16 April 1904) was a British author and government reformer. Although he campaigned on a Chartist platform, he promoted the idea that more progress would come from new attitudes than from new laws. His primary work, Self-Help (1859), promoted thrift and claimed that poverty was caused largely by irresponsible habits, while also attacking materialism and laissez-faire government. It has been called "the bible of mid- Victorian liberalism " and had lasting effects on British political thought. Born in Haddington, East Lothian , Scotland, Smiles
262-647: A Marxist interpretation, showing the strikes as highly organized with sophisticated political intentions. The unrest began in the Potteries of Staffordshire in early August, spreading north to Cheshire and Lancashire, where at Manchester a meeting of the Chartist national executive endorsed the strikes on the 16th. The strikes had begun spreading in Scotland and West Yorkshire from the 13th. There were outbreaks of serious violence, including property destruction and
393-476: A Royal Commission into the operation of the Poor Laws . The Commission's findings, which had probably been predetermined, were that the old system was badly and expensively run. The Commission's recommendations were based on two principles. The first was less eligibility : conditions within workhouses should be made worse than the worst conditions outside of them so that workhouses served as a deterrent, and only
524-585: A Select Committee was appointed by Parliament to investigate the financial viability of the scheme, and it was ordered that it be shut down. Cottages built by the Chartist Land Company are still standing and inhabited today in Oxfordshire , Worcestershire , Gloucestershire and on the outskirts of London. Rosedene , a Chartist cottage in Dodford, Worcestershire , is owned and maintained by
655-501: A bad neighbourhood, the one room serving as parlour, kitchen, and sleeping-room for the whole family, which consisted of husband, wife, four sons, two cats, and a dog. The witness was asked: Do you think this family was unable to get better lodgings, or were they careless? They were careless, was the reply. In 1866, Smiles became president of the National Provident Institution but left in 1871, after suffering
786-572: A benign and tolerant outlook that was sometimes at odds with that of his Reformed Presbyterian forebears. In 1838 Smiles was offered the editorship of the reformist paper, the Leeds Times . He spent the next twenty years in the city, moving to live on Woodhouse Cliff in 1847. In 1837, he wrote articles for the Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle and the Leeds Times , campaigning for parliamentary reform . In November 1838, Smiles
917-556: A clause that any outdoor relief should only be given under a scheme submitted to and approved by the Commissioners. The Poor Law Commission was independent of Parliament, but conversely, since none of its members sat in Parliament, it had no easy way of defending itself against criticism in Parliament. It was recognised that individual parishes would not have the means to erect or maintain workhouses suitable for implementing
1048-474: A debilitating stroke. The Globe Permanent Benefit Building Society 493 New Cross Road Deptford SE14 Founded 1868 Incorporated 1878. Founded for the mutual benefit of investors and borrowers with the approval of the late Samuel Smiles. The 50th Anniversary Jubilee Report (1 August 1918) states that he was a founding Director and was involved for 3 years. All founders lived in Deptford or the neighbourhood as did
1179-489: A free-market system. Chadwick believed that the poor rate would reach its "correct" level when the workhouse was seen as a deterrent and fewer people claimed relief. A central authority was needed to ensure a uniform poor law regime for all parishes and to ensure that that regime deterred applications for relief; that is, to ensure a free market for labour required greater state intervention in poor relief. Bentham's argument that people chose pleasant options and would not do what
1310-606: A huge fracas at the local magistrates' court and later were prosecuted for rescuing two of their compatriots from the police. William Cuffay , a London labour activist and one of the organisers of the Kennington Common rally, was convicted of "conspiring to levy war" against the Queen and transported to Australia. Chartism as an organized movement declined rapidly after 1848. Throughout the 1850s, pockets of strong support for Chartism could still be found in places such as
1441-432: A legally constituted Board of Guardians. Poor Law Unions were to be the necessary administrative unit for the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths introduced in 1837. The Act did give paupers some rights. Lunatics could not be held in a workhouse for more than a fortnight; workhouse inmates could not be forced to attend religious services of a denomination other than theirs (nor could children be instructed in
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#17327840480191572-698: A less pessimistic view and describing it as producing benefits such as the division of property, industry, trade and European civilisation. David Ricardo 's " iron law of wages " held that aid given to poor workers under the old Poor Law to supplement their wages had the effect of undermining the wages of other workers, so that the Roundsman System and Speenhamland system led employers to reduce wages, and needed reform to help workers who were not getting such aid and rate-payers whose poor-rates were going to subsidise low-wage employers. Edwin Chadwick ,
1703-571: A major contributor to the Commission's report, developed Jeremy Bentham 's theory of utilitarianism , the idea that the success of something could be measured by whether it secured the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. This idea of utilitarianism underpinned the Poor Law Amendment Act . Bentham believed that "the greatest good for the greatest number" could only be achieved when wages found their true levels in
1834-464: A man; to live and move in the world at large; to battle with evil wherever I see it, and to aim at the annihilation of all corrupt institutions and the establishment of all good, and generous, and useful institutions in their places." To further this idea, some Christian Chartist churches were formed where Christianity and radical politics were combined and considered inseparable. More than 20 Chartist churches existed in Scotland by 1841. Pamphlets made
1965-462: A maverick than a mainstream Chartist—described Frost as putting "a sword in my hand and a rope around my neck". Unsurprisingly, there are no surviving letters outlining plans for insurrection, but Chartists had undoubtedly started organising physical force. By early autumn men were being drilled and armed in south Wales and the West Riding. Secret cells were set up, covert meetings were held in
2096-537: A previously unknown and uncatalogued smaller pamphlet of 16 hymns was discovered in Todmorden Library in the North of England. This is believed to be the only Chartist Hymnal in existence. Heavily influenced by dissenting Christians, the hymns are about social justice, "striking down evildoers", and blessing Chartist enterprises, rather than the conventional themes of crucifixion, heaven, and family. Some of
2227-545: A religious creed objected to by their parent(s)); they were to be allowed to be visited by a minister of their religion. The central body set up to administer the new system was the Poor Law Commission . The Commission worked in Somerset House , hence were called such as The Bashaws of Somerset House It was initially made up of Thomas Frankland Lewis , former Tory MP, George Nicholls , Overseer of
2358-422: A rising were undoubtedly made. Several outbreaks of violence ensued, leading to arrests and trials. One of the leaders of the movement, John Frost , on trial for treason, claimed in his defence that he had toured his territory of industrial Wales urging people not to break the law, although he was himself guilty of using language that some might interpret as a call to arms. William Price of Llantrisant —more of
2489-511: A say in lawmaking: they would be able to vote, their vote would be protected by a secret ballot, and they would be able to stand for election to the House of Commons as a result of the removal of property qualifications and the introduction of payment for MPs. None of these demands were new, but the People's Charter became one of the most famous political manifestos of 19th-century Britain. Chartism
2620-475: A school which taught the existence of the beautiful and to do nothing. That school disparaged thrift and did not pay much attention to character and, perhaps, not much attention to duty". The Labour MP David Grenfell , in a debate on the Transitional Payments (Determination of Need) Bill , claimed that the 1932 bill "discriminated not against the unthrifty, the idler, and the waster, but against
2751-517: A single individual. Ernest Charles Jones became a leading figure in the National Charter Association during its decline, together with George Julian Harney , and helped to give the movement a clearer socialist direction. Jones and Harney knew Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels personally. Marx and Engels at the same time commented on the Chartist movement and Jones' work in their letters and articles. In Kennington,
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#17327840480192882-552: A speech. George Bernard Shaw , in his Fabian Essays in Socialism (1889), called Smiles "that modern Plutarch ". American inspirational writer Orison Swett Marden was inspired by Samuel Smiles as a result of having read Self-Help during his youth. Decades later, he wrote Pushing to the Front (1894) and became a professional author as a result of Smiles's influence. The late nineteenth century and early twentieth century saw
3013-411: A strong supporter of Joseph Hume . His father died in the 1832 cholera epidemic , but Smiles was enabled to continue with his studies because he was supported by his mother. She ran the small family general store firm in the belief that the "Lord will provide". Her example of working ceaselessly to support herself and his nine younger siblings strongly influenced Smiles's future life, but he developed
3144-489: A theory too—a dreadful theory. It is embodied in two words— Laissez faire —Let alone. When people are poisoned by plaster of Paris mixed with flour, "Let alone" is the remedy. When Cocculus indicus is used instead of hops, and men die prematurely, it is easy to say, "Nobody did it." Let those who can, find out when they are cheated: Caveat emptor . When people live in foul dwellings, let them alone. Let wretchedness do its work; do not interfere with death. In 1871, he edited
3275-410: Is a growing tendency to fawn upon them, flatter them, speak nothing but smooth words to them. They are credited with virtues they themselves know they do not possess. To win their favour sympathy is often pretended for views, the carrying out of which is known to be hopeless. The popular agitator must please whom he addresses, and it is always highly gratifying to our self-love to be told that someone else
3406-472: Is something still to be said for Samuel Smiles's doctrine of self-help". The liberal economist F. A. Hayek wrote in 1976 that: "It is probably a misfortune that, especially in the USA, popular writers like Samuel Smiles...have defended free enterprise on the ground that it regularly rewards the deserving, and it bodes ill for the future of the market order that this seems to have become the only defence of it which
3537-552: Is still to be maintained. The people are not to be free. The depression of 1842 led to a wave of strikes , as workers responded to the wage cuts imposed by employers. Calls for the implementation of the Charter were soon included alongside demands for the restoration of wages to previous levels. Working people went on strike in 14 English and 8 Scottish counties, principally in the Midlands , Lancashire , Cheshire , Yorkshire, and
3668-583: Is to blame for what we suffer. So it rarely occurs to these orators to suggest that those whom they address are themselves to blame for what they suffer, or that they misuse the means of happiness which are within their reach ... The capitalist is merely a man who does not spend all that is earned by work. Smiles was not very successful in his careers as a doctor and journalist. He joined several cooperative ventures, but they failed for lack of capital. Disillusioned, he turned away from middle-class utopianism. He finally found intellectual refuge and national fame in
3799-430: Is to blame. That terrible Nobody! How much he has to answer for. More mischief is done by Nobody than by all the world besides. Nobody adulterates our food. Nobody poisons us with bad drink. Nobody supplies us with foul water. Nobody spreads fever in blind alleys and unswept lanes. Nobody leaves towns undrained. Nobody fills gaols, penitentiaries, and convict stations. Nobody makes poachers, thieves, and drunkards. Nobody has
3930-581: Is understood by the general public. That it has largely become the basis of the self-esteem of the businessman often gives him an air of self-righteousness which does not make him more popular". The growth of industrial archaeology and history in Britain from the 1960s caused a number of these titles to be reprinted, and a number are available on the Web from such sources as Project Gutenberg , noted below. Notes Bibliography Chartism Chartism
4061-546: The Andover Union Workhouse were found to be inhumane and dangerous, prompted investigation by a Commons select committee, whose report commented scathingly on the dysfunctionality of the Poor Law Commission. In 1847, Government legislation replaced the Poor Law Commission with a Poor Law Board under much closer government supervision and parliamentary scrutiny. According to a 2019 study,
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4192-465: The Black Country , but the final National Convention, held in 1858, was attended by only a handful of delegates. Robert George Gammage , a veteran chartist and later historian of the movement, blamed Chartism's decline on O'Connor's egotism and vanity, but more recent historians (notably Dorothy Thompson ) have tended to see the process as too complex to be attributed to the personality of
4323-557: The Brandon Estate featured a large mural by Tony Hollaway , commissioned by London County Council 's Edward Hollamby in the early 1960s, commemorating the Chartists' meeting on 10 April 1848. During this period, some Christian churches in Britain held "that it was 'wrong for a Christian to meddle in political matters ... All of the denominations were particularly careful to disavow any political affiliation and he who
4454-417: The Leeds Times , he advocated radical causes ranging from women's suffrage to free trade and parliamentary reform. By the late 1840s, however, Smiles became concerned about the advocation of physical force by Chartists Feargus O'Connor and George Julian Harney , although he seems to have agreed with them that the movement's current tactics were not effective, saying that "mere political reform will not cure
4585-489: The National Trust , and is open to visitors by appointment. Candidates embracing Chartism also stood on numerous occasions in general elections . There were concerted campaigns in the election of 1841 and election of 1847 , when O'Connor was elected for Nottingham. O'Connor became the only Chartist to be elected an MP; it was a remarkable victory for the movement. More commonly, Chartist candidates participated in
4716-576: The Northern Liberator (1837–40), English Chartist Circular (1841–43), and the Midland Counties' Illuminator (1841). The papers gave justifications for the demands of the People's Charter, accounts of local meetings, commentaries on education and temperance and a great deal of poetry. They also advertised upcoming meetings, typically organised by local grassroots branches, held either in public houses or their halls. Research of
4847-593: The Northern Star : "We are commanded ... to love our neighbours as ourselves ... this command is universal in its application, whether as a friend, Christian or citizen. A man may be devout as a Christian ... but if as a citizen he claims rights for himself he refuses to confer upon others, he fails to fulfil the precept of Christ". The conflicts between these two views led many like Joseph Barker to see Britain's churches as pointless. "I have no faith in church organisations," he explained. "I believe it my duty to be
4978-795: The Outdoor Relief Prohibitory Order . The implementation of the Act proved impossible, particularly in the industrial north which suffered from cyclical unemployment. The cost of implementing the Settlement Laws in operation since the 17th century was also high and so these were not implemented fully: it often proved too costly to enforce the removal of paupers. The Commission could issue directives, but these were often not implemented fully and in some cases ignored in order to save on expenses. Darwin Leadbitter 1782–1840
5109-714: The Whig government of Earl Grey denying the right of the poor to subsistence. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the Poor Relief Act 1601 and attempted to fundamentally change the poverty relief system in England and Wales (similar changes were made to the poor law for Scotland in 1845). It resulted from the 1832 Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws , which included Edwin Chadwick , John Bird Sumner and Nassau William Senior . Chadwick
5240-691: The manuscript of Conduct was found in his desk and, on the advice of John Murray, was destroyed. No copy is known to exist. Sir George Reid was commissioned to paint Smiles's portrait, completed in 1877 and now in the collection of the National Gallery, London . Copies of his handwriting can be found in the archives of East Lothian Council. When, in 1892, William Gladstone returned to power and, as prime minister, introduced his Second Irish Home Rule Bill , Smiles wrote to his son in Ulster : "Don't you rebel. Keep quiet, though I see your name among
5371-471: The 'House' has resolved they should not be heard! Three and a half millions of the slave-class have holden out the olive branch of peace to the enfranchised and privileged classes and sought for a firm and compact union, on the principle of EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW; and the enfranchised and privileged have refused to enter into a treaty! The same class is to be a slave class still. The mark and brand of inferiority are not to be removed. The assumption of inferiority
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5502-408: The 1834 welfare reform had no impact on rural wages, labour mobility or the fertility rate of the poor. The study concludes, "this deliberately induced suffering gained little for the land and property owners who funded poor relief. Nor did it raise wages for the poor, or free up migration to better opportunities in the cities. One of the first great triumphs of the new discipline of Political Economy ,
5633-497: The 19th century". In early May 1842, a second petition, of over three million signatures, was submitted, and was yet again rejected by Parliament. The Northern Star commented on the rejection: Three and a half million have quietly, orderly, soberly, peaceably but firmly asked of their rulers to do justice; and their rulers have turned a deaf ear to that protest. Three and a half millions of people have asked permission to detail their wrongs, and enforce their claims for RIGHT, and
5764-556: The Chartist Caves at Llangynidr and weapons were manufactured as the Chartists armed themselves. Behind closed doors and in pub back rooms, plans were drawn up for a mass protest. On the night of 3–4 November 1839 Frost led several thousand marchers through South Wales to the Westgate Hotel , Newport , Monmouthshire , where there was a confrontation. It seems that Frost and other local leaders were expecting to seize
5895-795: The Chartist leaders transported to Tasmania in the aftermath of the Newport rising of 1839 . The Chartists were especially critical of the Church of England for unequal distribution of the state funds it received, resulting in some bishops and higher dignitaries having grossly larger incomes than other clergymen. This state of affairs led some Chartists to question the very idea of a state-sponsored church, leading them to call for absolute separation of church and state . Facing severe persecution in 1839, Chartists took to attending services at churches they held in contempt to display their numerical strength and express their dissatisfaction. Often they forewarned
6026-427: The Chartists were planning a peaceful demonstration, but still wanted a large-scale display of force to counter the challenge, so 100,000 special constables were recruited to bolster the police force. O'Connor, seeing that any form of resistance to authorities would be impossible, cancelled the planned procession to Parliament to present the petition. The meeting was peaceful and finished without incident, after which
6157-475: The Commission's doings. Local poor-rates payers still elected their local Board of Poor Law Guardians and still paid for local poor law provisions, but those provisions could be specified to the Board of Guardians by the Poor Law Commission; where they were, the views of the local rate-payers were irrelevant. The principles upon which the Commission was to base its regulations were not specified. The workhouse test and
6288-824: The Management of the Poor, for the Government of Workhouses and the Education of the Children therein, ... and for the apprenticing the Children of poor Persons, and for the Guidance and Control of all Guardians, Vestries, and Parish Officers, so far as relates to the Management or Relief of the Poor, and the keeping, examining, auditing, and allowing of Accounts, and making and entering into Contracts in all Matters relating to such Management or Relief, or to any Expenditure for
6419-694: The NCSU soon surfaced and came to a head over their proposals both for a union with the Anti-Corn Law League, which was also broadly middle class, and for rewriting the People's Charter as a legislative Bill of Rights. In both, O'Connor perceived a threat to his leadership, and unable to find agreement the NCSU leader Joseph Sturge withdrew. In May 1843 William Sharman Crawford introduced the NCSU approved bill to "a small and bored" House of Commons. Despite this second set of arrests, Chartist activity continued. Beginning in 1843, O'Connor suggested that
6550-589: The Poor throughout England and Wales, according to the existing Laws, or such Laws as shall be in force at the Time being, shall be subject to the Direction and Control of the said Commissioners; and for executing the Powers given to them by this Act the said Commissioners shall and are hereby authorized and required, from Time to Time as they shall see Occasion, to make and Issue all such Rules, Orders, and Regulations for
6681-517: The Purpose of ordering Relief. General Rules could only be made by the Commissioners themselves and had to be notified to a Secretary of State. Any new General Rules had to be laid before Parliament at the start of the next session. General Rules were those issued to the Guardians of more than one Union. Therefore, there was no provision for Parliamentary scrutiny of policy changes (e.g., on
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#17327840480196812-480: The Relief of the Poor, and for carrying this Act into execution in all other respects, as they shall think proper; and the said Commissioners may, at their Discretion, from Time to Time suspend, alter, or rescind such Rules, Orders, and Regulations, or any of them: Provided always, that nothing in this Act contained shall be construed as enabling the said Commissioners or any of them to interfere in any individual Case for
6943-714: The Strathclyde region of Scotland. Typically, strikers resolved to cease work until wages were increased "until the People's charter becomes the Law of the Land". How far these strikes were directly Chartist in inspiration "was then, as now, a subject of much controversy". The Leeds Mercury headlined them "The Chartist Insurrection", but suspicion also hung over the Anti-Corn Law League that manufacturers among its members deliberately closed mills to stir-up unrest. At
7074-589: The Ulstermen". Smiles wrote to Lucy Smiles in 1893, "This Home Rule Bill is horrid ... I am quite appalled at that wretched hound, miscalled statesman, throwing the country into a state of turmoil. I cannot understand how so many persons in this part of Britain follow that maniac, just like a flock of sheep. He is simply bursting with self-conceit. Alas! Alas for Liberalism!" On 16 April 1904, Samuel Smiles died in Kensington in his 92nd year, London and
7205-859: The Yorkshire Chartist Ben Wilson, that Newport was to have been the signal for a national uprising. Despite this significant setback the movement remained remarkably buoyant and remained so until late 1842. While the majority of Chartists, under the leadership of Feargus O'Connor , concentrated on petitioning for Frost, Williams and William Jones to be pardoned, significant minorities in Sheffield and Bradford planned their risings in response. Samuel Holberry led an abortive rising in Sheffield on 12 January, and on 26 January Robert Peddie attempted similar action in Bradford. In both Sheffield and Bradford spies had kept magistrates aware of
7336-595: The advantage." written on the margins. In reality, the majority of people could not save because banks did not accept small deposits at the time. In 1905, William Boyd Carpenter , Bishop of Ripon , praised Smiles: "The Bishop said he had noticed a little tendency in some quarters to disparage the homely energies of life which at one time were so highly thought of. He recalled the appearance of Self-Help , by Samuel Smiles, who 40 or 50 years ago gave lectures at Leeds encouraging young men to engage in self-improvement. His books were read with extraordinary avidity, but there arose
7467-425: The agitators ... Your letter is frightfully alarming ... Gladstone has come into power and we are threatened with Civil War. This cannot be the result of good statesmanship. Yet there are Liberal members to cheer on the maniac. Alas, alas for Liberalism! ... Must I give you six months notice to withdraw my loans to the B.R. Co., for I want to keep the little money I have for wife and bairns, not for arming
7598-627: The ambushing of police convoys, in the Potteries and the West Riding. Though the government deployed soldiers to suppress violence, it was the practical problems in sustaining an indefinite stoppage that ultimately defeated the strikers. The drift back to work began on 19 August. Only Lancashire and Cheshire were still strike-bound by September, the Manchester power loom weavers being the last to return to work on 26 September. The state hit back. Several Chartist leaders were arrested, including O'Connor, George Julian Harney , and Thomas Cooper . During
7729-554: The announced march, Parliament revived a statute dating to the time of Charles II that forbade more than 10 persons from presenting a petition in person. That was followed on April 7 by new legislation making certain seditious acts "proposing to make war against the Queen, or seeking to intimidate or overawe both Houses of Parliament" or openly speaking or writing "to that effect" felonies in Great Britain and Ireland, punishable by death or transportation. The authorities knew that
7860-503: The arrival of news of a revolution in Paris , Chartist activity increased. In March there were protests or bread riots in Manchester, Glasgow, and Dublin, and a new demonstration was announced for 10 April 1848, to be held on Kennington Common , London . After the meeting, a planned procession would carry a third petition to Parliament. Marches and demonstrations were also planned for April 10 in Manchester and elsewhere. In anticipation of
7991-566: The book, retaining the copyright, while he paid John Murray a ten per cent commission. It sold 20,000 copies within one year of its publication. By the time of Smiles's death in 1904 it had sold over a quarter of a million copies. Self-Help "elevated [Smiles] to celebrity status: almost overnight, he became a leading pundit and much-consulted guru". Smiles "suddenly became the fashion and he was deluged with requests that he should lay foundation stones, sit for his portrait, present prizes to orphan children, make speeches from platforms. The simple fellow
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#17327840480198122-542: The chief marks to be aimed at. That would be a great fallacy. Knowledge is of itself one of the highest enjoyments. The ignorant man passes through the world dead to all pleasures, save those of the senses ... Every human being has a great mission to perform, noble faculties to cultivate, a vast destiny to accomplish. He should have the means of education, and of exerting freely all the powers of his godlike nature. The newly founded Routledge publishing house rejected publishing Self-Help in 1855. Twenty years later Smiles
8253-404: The conspirators' plans, and these attempted risings were easily quashed. Frost and two other Newport leaders, Jones and Williams, were transported . Holberry and Peddie received long prison sentences with hard labour; Holberry died in prison and became a Chartist martyr. According to Dorothy Thompson, "1842 was the year in which more energy was hurled against the authorities than in any other of
8384-664: The distribution of Chartist meetings in London that were advertised in the Northern Star shows that the movement was not uniformly spread across the metropolis but clustered in the West End, where a group of Chartist tailors had shops, as well as in Shoreditch in the east, and relied heavily on pubs that also supported local friendly societies. Readers also found denunciations of imperialism —the First Opium War (1839–42)
8515-609: The early historians of Chartism attributed the failure of Chartism at least in part to O'Connor. He was accused of egotism and of being quarrelsome. In recent years, however, there has been a trend to reassess him in a more favourable light. Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 ( PLAA ) known widely as the New Poor Law , was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by
8646-491: The extent to which out-door relief would be permitted) affecting a number of Poor Law Unions, provided these were implemented by separate directives to each Union involved. The Act specified penalties which could be imposed upon persons failing to comply with the directives of the Poor Law Commission (£5 on first offence; £20 for second offence, fine and imprisonment on the third offence). However, it did not identify any means of penalising parishes or Unions which had not formed
8777-419: The great crowds who made up the Chartist meetings in their heyday. Over 6 ft (183 cm) tall—he was almost the tallest man in the House of Commons—and with a voice which could easily carry an open-air meetings of tens of thousands, with a handsome appearance, a quick wit and a rich vein of scurrility when it came to abusing his opponents, Connor possessed all the qualities of the first rate popular orator. Many of
8908-540: The hymns protest the exploitation of child labour and slavery . One proclaims, "Men of wealth and men of power/ Like locusts all thy gifts devour". Two celebrate the martyrs of the movement. "Great God! Is this the Patriot's Doom?" was composed for the funeral of Samuel Holberry, the Sheffield Chartist leader, who died in prison in 1843, while another honours John Frost, Zephaniah Williams, and William Jones,
9039-467: The idea of "less eligibility" were therefore never mentioned. "Classification of paupers" was neither specified nor prohibited (during passage of the Act, an amendment by William Cobbett forbidding the separation of man and wife had been defeated), and the recommendation of the Royal Commission that "outdoor relief" (relief given outside of a workhouse) should be abolished was reflected only in
9170-562: The importance of economic factors in the launch of Chartism. If, as the movement came together, there were different priorities amongst local leaders, the Charter and the Star soon created a national, and largely united, campaign of national protest. John Bates, an activist, recalled: There were [radical] associations all over the county, but there was a great lack of cohesion. One wanted the ballot, another manhood suffrage and so on ... The radicals were without unity of aim and method, and there
9301-630: The industrious, thrifty person, who had to pay a heavy penalty. The Minister of Labour penalized self-help. He poured contempt on Samuel Smiles and all his works". The liberal Ernest Benn invoked Smiles in 1949 when praising the virtues of self-help. In 1962, the director of the British Institute of Management , John Marsh, said that young men who entered industry needed a sense of service and duty; they must be "men of character who know how to behave well as in phases of success"; they must possess self-discipline in thinking and behaviour: "There
9432-553: The isolation of self-help. The origins of his most famous book, Self-Help , lay in a speech he gave in March 1845 in response to a request by a Mutual Improvement Society, published as, The Education of the Working Classes . In it Smiles said: I would not have any one here think that, because I have mentioned individuals who have raised themselves by self-education from poverty to social eminence, and even wealth, these are
9563-441: The labour of others, and from the moment they arrive at that decision, become the enemies of society. It is not often that distress drives men to crime. In nine cases out of ten, it is choice not necessity. Moral cowardice is exhibited as much in public as in private life. Snobbism is not confined to toadying of the rich, but is quite as often displayed in the toadying of the poor... Now that the "masses" exercise political power, there
9694-662: The land contained the solution to workers' problems. This idea evolved into the Chartist Co-operative Land Company , later called the National Land Company . Workers would buy shares in the company, and the company would use those funds to purchase estates that would be subdivided into 2, 3, and 4 acres (0.8, 1.2, and 1.6 hectare) lots. Between 1844 and 1848, five estates were purchased, subdivided, and built on, and then settled by lucky shareholders, who were chosen by lot. In 1848
9825-614: The late summer of 1842, hundreds were incarcerated. In the Pottery Riots alone, 116 men and women went to prison. A smaller number, but still amounting to many dozens—such as William Ellis, who was convicted on perjured evidence—were transported . One protester, Josiah Heapy, 19 years old, was shot dead. The government's most ambitious prosecution, personally led by the Attorney General, of O'Connor and 57 others, including almost all Chartism's national executive failed: none
9956-490: The law to suit the interests of their own parishes, resulting in an even greater degree of local variation. The poor working-class, including the agricultural labourers and factory workers, also opposed the New Poor Law Act, because the diet in workhouses was inadequate to sustain workers' health and nutrition. The Times even named this act as "the starvation act." Even more, the act forced workers to relocate to
10087-552: The letters written by his son, Samuel Smiles Jr (Born 1852), and sent home during his teenage sea voyage (taken for his health), as well as the log he kept of his journey to Australia and the United States between February 1869 and March 1871, and published them in London in book form, under the title A Boy's Voyage Round the World . In 1881 he claimed: Labour is toilsome and its gains are slow. Some people determine to live by
10218-532: The locations of workhouses, which separated families. Charles Dickens ' novel Oliver Twist harshly criticises the Poor Law. In 1835 sample dietary tables were issued by the Poor law Commissioners for use in union workhouses. Dickens details the meagre diet of Oliver’s workhouse and points it up in the famous scene of the boy asking for more. Dickens also comments sarcastically on the notorious measure which consisted in separating married couples on admission to
10349-539: The manifold evils which now afflict society". On 7 December 1843, Samuel married Sarah Ann Holmes Dixon in Leeds. They had three daughters and two sons. In 1845, he left the Leeds Times and became a secretary for the newly formed Leeds & Thirsk Railway . After nine years, he worked for the South Eastern Railway . In the 1850s, Smiles abandoned his interest in parliament and decided that self-help
10480-483: The message of being thrifty to self-improve represented in Thrift . In 1897, The Halifax printed the "Misery Leaflet" in which a worn-out house and a well-off house are each illustrated next to each other under the labels "Want of Thrift" and "Thrift". The leaflet has "Little and often fills the purse.", "Before you marry have a house to live in.", and "Providence will thrive where genius will starve. When fortune smiles take
10611-525: The movement for their news, editorials, poetry and especially in 1848, reports on international developments. They reached a huge audience. The Poor Man's Guardian in the 1830s, edited by Henry Hetherington , dealt with questions of class solidarity, manhood suffrage, property, and temperance, and condemned the Reform Act of 1832. The paper explored the rhetoric of violence versus nonviolence, or what its writers called moral versus physical force. It
10742-493: The neediest would consider entering them. The other was the "workhouse test": relief should only be available in the workhouse. Migration of rural poor to the city to find work was a problem for urban ratepayers under this system, since it raised their poor rates. The Commission's report recommended sweeping changes: Malthus ' An Essay on the Principle of Population set out the influential doctrine that population growth
10873-520: The new arrangements. This resistance was eventually overcome, but outdoor relief was never abolished in many Northern districts, although the possibility existed. Policy officially changed after the passing of the Outdoor Labour Test Order , which "allowed" outdoor relief. After 1834, Poor Law policy aimed to transfer unemployed rural workers to urban areas where there was work, and protect urban ratepayers from paying too much. It
11004-538: The old Poor Law which peaked between 1815 and 1820 was described by both sides as " Malthusian ". Of those serving on the Commission, the economist Nassau William Senior identified his ideas with Malthus while adding more variables, and Bishop John Bird Sumner as a leading Evangelical was more persuasive than Malthus himself in incorporating the Malthusian principle of population into the Divine Plan, taking
11135-543: The old system and John George Shaw Lefevre a lawyer, while Chadwick, an author of the Royal Commission's report was Secretary. The Commission's powers allowed it to specify policies for each Poor Law Union , and policy did not have to be uniform. Implementation of the New Poor Law administrative arrangements was phased in, starting with the Southern counties whose problems the Act had been designed to address. There
11266-512: The open meetings, called hustings, that were the first stage of an election. They frequently won the show of hands at the hustings, but then withdrew from the poll to expose the deeply undemocratic nature of the electoral system. This is what Harney did in a widely reported challenge against Lord Palmerston in Tiverton , Devon , in 1847. The last Chartist challenge at a parliamentary poll took place at Ripon in 1859. In February 1848, following
11397-437: The petition with its many signatures was sent to Parliament in three cabs accompanied by a small group of Chartist leaders. Parliament's repressive measures strengthened an already-present impulse to violent resistance. In June there was widespread drilling and arming in the West Riding and the devising of plots in London. In Bingley , Yorkshire, a group of "physical force" Chartists led by Isaac Ickeringill were involved in
11528-424: The point and vast audiences came to hear lectures on the same themes by the likes of J. R. Stephens, who was highly influential in the movement. Political preachers thus came into prominence. Between late 1844 and November 1845, subscriptions were raised for the publication of a hymnal , which was printed as a 64-page pamphlet and distributed for a nominal fee, although no known copy is thought to remain. In 2011,
11659-471: The policies of "no outdoor relief" and segregation and confinement of paupers; consequently, the Commission was given powers to order the formation of Poor Law Unions (confederations of parishes) large enough to support a workhouse. The Commission was empowered to overturn any Unions previously established under Gilbert's Act , but only if at least two-thirds of the Union's Guardians supported this. Each Union
11790-563: The political organization of the country." In 1836, the London Working Men's Association was founded by William Lovett and Henry Hetherington , providing a platform for Chartists in the southeast. The origins of Chartism in Wales can be traced to the foundation in the autumn of 1836 of Carmarthen Working Men's Association. Both nationally and locally a Chartist press thrived in the form of periodicals, which were important to
11921-477: The political system more democratic: Eventually, after Chartism died out, Britain adopted the first five reforms. Chartists saw themselves fighting against political corruption and for democracy in an industrial society, but attracted support beyond the radical political groups for economic reasons, such as opposing wage cuts and unemployment. After the passing of the Reform Act 1832 , which failed to extend
12052-430: The poor into workhouses, where families were separated. The massive wave of opposition to this measure in the north of England in the late 1830s made Chartism a mass movement. It seemed that only securing the vote for working men would change things. Dorothy Thompson , the preeminent historian of Chartism, defines the movement as the time when "thousands of working people considered that their problems could be solved by
12183-422: The preacher and demanded that he preach from texts they believed supported their cause, such as 2 Thessalonians 3:10, 2 Timothy 2:6, Matthew 19:23 and James 5:1–6. In response, the set-upon ministers often preached the need to focus on things spiritual and not material, and of meekness and obedience to authority, citing such passages as Romans 13:1–7 and 1 Peter 2:13–17. Dorothy Thompson argues that, "Chartism
12314-405: The proprietor of the Northern Star was the "most well-loved man" of the movement: For the Chartists ... O'Connor was the acknowledged leader of the movement. Abler men among the leadership there certainly were and men with a clearer sense of direction in which a working-class movement should go, but none of them had the appeal which O'Connor had nor his ability to win the confidence and support of
12445-472: The rise of New Liberalism , Keynesian economics , and socialism, which all viewed thrift unfavourably. The New Liberal economists J. A. Hobson and A. F. Mummery in their Physiology of Industry (1889), claimed that saving resulted in the underemployment of capital and labour during trade depressions. General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936) by John Maynard Keynes , attempted to replace classical liberal economics. Building societies adopted
12576-766: The rise of the welfare state in the 20th century. In 1948, the PLAA was repealed by the National Assistance Act 1948 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 6 . c. 29), which created the National Assistance Board to act as a residual relief agency. Alarmed at the cost of poor relief in the southern agricultural districts of England (where, in many areas, it had become a semi-permanent top-up of labourers' wages—the Allowance System , Roundsman System , or Speenhamland System ), Parliament had set up
12707-427: The ten successors. In 1875, his book Thrift was published. In it, he said that "riches do not constitute any claim to distinction. It is only the vulgar who admire riches as riches". He claimed that the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 was "one of the most valuable that has been placed on the statute-book in modern times". He also criticised laissez-faire : When typhus or cholera breaks out, they tell us that Nobody
12838-543: The term MC, Member of Convention, to identify themselves; the convention undoubtedly saw itself as an alternative parliament. In June 1839, the petition, signed by 1.3 million working people, was presented to the House of Commons, but MPs voted, by a large majority, not to hear the petitioners. At the Convention, there was talk of a general strike or "sacred month". In the West Riding of Yorkshire and in south Wales , anger went even deeper, and underground preparations for
12969-463: The time, these disputes were collectively known as the Plug Plot as, in many cases, protesters removed the plugs from steam boilers powering industry to prevent their use. Amongst historians writing in the 20th century, the term General Strike was increasingly used. Some modern historians prefer the description "strike wave". In contrast, Mick Jenkins in his The General Strike of 1842 offers
13100-552: The town and trigger a national uprising. The result of the Newport Rising was a disaster for Chartism. The hotel was occupied by armed soldiers. A brief, violent, and bloody battle ensued. Shots were fired by both sides, although most contemporaries agree that the soldiers holding the building had vastly superior firepower. The Chartists were forced to retreat in disarray: more than twenty were killed, at least another fifty wounded. Testimonies exist from contemporaries, such as
13231-465: The truly destitute from applying for relief. The Act was passed by large majorities in Parliament, with only a few Radicals (such as William Cobbett ) voting against. The act was implemented, but the full rigours of the intended system were never applied in Northern industrial areas; however, the apprehension contributed to the social unrest of the period. The importance of the Poor Law declined with
13362-414: The vote beyond those owning property, the political leaders of the working class made speeches claiming that there had been a great act of betrayal. This sense that the working class had been betrayed by the middle class was strengthened by the actions of the Whig governments of the 1830s. Notably, the hated new Poor Law Amendment was passed in 1834, depriving working people of outdoor relief and driving
13493-409: The workhouse: "instead of compelling a man to support his family [they] took his family from him, and made him a bachelor! " Like the other children, Oliver was "denied the benefit of exercise" and compelled to carry out the meaningless task of untwisting and picking old ropes although he had been assured that he would be "educated and taught a useful trade." In the North of England particularly, there
13624-550: Was Thomas Malthus 's principle that population increased faster than resources unless checked, the " iron law of wages " and Jeremy Bentham 's doctrine that people did what was pleasant and would tend to claim relief rather than working. The Act was intended to curb the cost of poor relief and address abuses of the old system, prevalent in southern agricultural counties, by enabling a new system to be brought in. Under this system, relief would only be given in workhouses , and conditions in workhouses would be such as to deter any but
13755-852: Was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, with particular strongholds of support in Northern England , the East Midlands , the Staffordshire Potteries , the Black Country and the South Wales Valleys , where working people depended on single industries and were subject to wild swings in economic activity. Chartism
13886-432: Was a gratifying reduction in poor-rates, but also horror tales of paupers ill-treated or relief refused. Some paupers were induced to migrate from the Southern to Northern towns, leading to a suspicion in the North that the New Poor Law was intended to drive wages down. By 1837, when roll-out of the new arrangements reached the textile districts of Lancashire and Yorkshire , trade was in recession. The usual response to this
14017-467: Was a movement whose members, supporters, and most of its leaders, were working men. A few were shopkeepers, innkeepers or marginal members of lesser professions." Ernest Jones (1819–1869), was born into the landed gentry, became a barrister, and left a large documentary record. "He is the best-remembered of the Chartist leaders, among the pioneers of the modern Labour movement, and a friend of both Marx and Engels." According to Thompson, Feargus O'Connor
14148-687: Was buried in Brompton Cemetery . Shortly before his death, he was reportedly offered a knighthood, which he declined to accept. Smiles's grandchildren include Sir Walter Smiles , an Ulster Unionist Party MP. Through that branch of the family, Smiles is also the great-great-grandfather of Bear Grylls , a well-known adventurer. Self-Help has been called "the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism", and it raised Smiles to celebrity status almost overnight. The Liberal MP J. A. Roebuck in 1862 called Smiles's Workmen's Earnings, Strikes and Savings "a very remarkable book" and quoted passages from it in
14279-420: Was but little hope of accomplishing anything. When, however, the People's Charter was drawn up ... clearly defining the urgent demands of the working class, we felt we had a real bond of union; and so transformed our Radical Association into local Chartist centres ... The movement organised a National Convention in London in early 1839 to facilitate the presentation of the first petition. Delegates used
14410-403: Was caused by habitual improvidence: Times of great prosperity, in which wages are highest and mills running full time are not times in which Mechanics' Institutes and Schools flourish, but times in which publicans and beer sellers prosper and grow rich ... A workman earning 50s. to 60s. a week (above the average pay of bankers' clerks) was content to inhabit a miserable one-roomed dwelling in
14541-486: Was condemned—and of the arguments of free traders about the civilizing and pacifying influences of free trade. In 1837, six Members of Parliament (MPs) and six working men, including William Lovett , from the London Working Men's Association , set up in 1836, formed a committee. In 1838, they published the People's Charter . This set out the movement's six main aims. The achievement of these aims would give working men
14672-599: Was convicted of the serious charges, and those found guilty of minor offences were never sentenced. Cooper alone of the national Chartist leadership was convicted at a different trial, having spoken at strike meetings in the Potteries. He wrote a long poem in prison called " ‘The Purgatory of Suicides’. In December 1842 the Chartists held a joint national delegate conference with the National Complete Suffrage Union in Birmingham. Tensions with
14803-548: Was dissatisfied with the law that resulted from his report. The Act was passed two years after the Representation of the People Act 1832 which extended the franchise to middle-class men. Some historians have argued that this was a major factor in the PLAA being passed. The Act has been described as "the classic example of the fundamental Whig- Benthamite reforming legislation of the period". Its theoretical basis
14934-480: Was explicitly given powers to specify the number and salaries of Poor Law Board employees and to order their dismissal. It could order the "classification" of workhouse inmates and specify the extent to which (and conditions under which) out-door relief could be given. Clause 15 of the Act gave the Commission sweeping powers: That from and after the passing of this Act the Administration of Relief to
15065-628: Was exponential , and that, unless checked, population increased faster than the ability of a country to feed it. This pressure explained the existence of poverty, which he justified theologically as a force for self-improvement and abstention. He saw any assistance to the poor—such as given by the old poor laws—as self-defeating, temporarily removing the pressure of want from the poor while leaving them free to increase their families, thus leading to greater number of people in want and an apparently greater need for relief. His views were influential and hotly debated without always being understood, and opposition to
15196-407: Was fierce resistance; the local people considered that the existing system there was running smoothly. They argued that the nature of cyclical unemployment meant that any new workhouse built would be empty for most of the year and thus a waste of money. However, the unlikely union between property owners and paupers did not last, and opposition, though fierce, eventually petered out. In some cases, this
15327-471: Was for hours of work to be reduced, with pay reducing correspondingly and out-door relief being given to those who could not make ends meet on short-time earnings. This was clearly incompatible with a policy of "no out-door relief", and, despite assurances from the Poor Law Commission that there was no intention to apply that policy in the textile districts, they were not believed and a number of textile towns resisted (or rioted in response to) efforts to introduce
15458-468: Was further accelerated as the protests very successfully undermined parts of the Amendment Act and became obsolete. Fierce hostility and organised opposition from workers, politicians and religious leaders eventually led to the Amendment Act being amended, removing the very harsh measures of the workhouses to a certain degree. The Andover workhouse scandal of the mid-1840s, in which conditions in
15589-488: Was impossible to achieve both these aims, as the principle of less eligibility made people search for work in towns and cities. Workhouses were built and paupers transferred to these urban areas. However, the Settlement Laws were used to protect ratepayers from paying too much. Workhouse construction and the amalgamation of unions was slow. Outdoor relief did continue after the PLAA was introduced. The board issued further edicts on outdoor relief: The Outdoor Labour Test Order and
15720-462: Was in charge of the commission's finances. The PLAA was implemented differently and unevenly across England and Wales. One of the criticisms of the Poor Relief Act 1601 had been its varied implementation. The law was also interpreted differently in different parishes, as these areas varied widely in their economic prosperity, and the levels of unemployment experienced within them, leading to an uneven system. Local Boards of Guardians also interpreted
15851-598: Was invited to become the editor of the Leeds Times , a position he accepted and filled until 1842. In May 1840, Smiles became secretary to the Leeds Parliamentary Reform Association, an organisation that held to the six objectives of Chartism : universal suffrage for all men over the age of 21; equal-sized electoral districts; voting by secret ballot ; an end to the need of MPs to qualify for Parliament , other than by winning an election; pay for MPs; and annual Parliaments. As editor of
15982-406: Was launched in 1838 by a series of large-scale meetings in Birmingham, Glasgow and the north of England. A huge mass meeting was held on Kersal Moor near Salford , Lancashire , on 24 September 1838 with speakers from all over the country. Speaking in favour of manhood suffrage, Joseph Rayner Stephens declared that Chartism was a "knife and fork, a bread and cheese question". These words indicate
16113-883: Was less strong in places, such as Bristol , that had more diversified economies. The movement was fiercely opposed by government authorities, who finally suppressed it. Support for the movement was at its highest when petitions signed by millions of working people were presented to the House of Commons . The strategy employed was to use the scale of support which these petitions and the accompanying mass meetings demonstrated to put pressure on politicians to concede male suffrage. Chartism thus relied on constitutional methods to secure its aims, though some became involved in insurrectionary activities, notably in South Wales and in Yorkshire . The People's Charter called for six reforms to make
16244-411: Was pleased with these invitations, but naturally he could not accept. He had his work to do ... his duty did not lie on any public platform ... It lay in his office with his Work". Smiles intended to publish a book titled Conduct , in 1896. He submitted it to his publisher, but John Murray declined to publish the book. In 1898, publication was denied again. After the death of Smiles in 1904,
16375-424: Was seated next to George Routledge at a dinner, and he said to him, "And when, Dr. Smiles, are we to have the honour of publishing one of your books?"; Smiles replied that Mr. Routledge already had the honour of rejecting Self-Help . Although John Murray was willing to publish Self-Help on a half-profits system, Smiles rejected this as he did not want the book to lose its anecdotes. In 1859, Smiles self-published
16506-462: Was succeeded as the voice of radicalism by an even more famous paper: the Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser . The Star was published between 1837 and 1852, and in 1839 was the best-selling provincial newspaper in Britain, with a circulation of 50,000. Like other Chartist papers, it was often read aloud in coffeehouses, workplaces and the open air. Other Chartist periodicals included
16637-402: Was the least concerned with the 'affairs of this world' was considered the most saintly and worthy of emulation." This was at odds with many Christian Chartists for whom Christianity was "above all practical, something that must be carried into every walk of life. Furthermore, there was no possibility of divorcing it from political science." William Hill, a Swedenborgian minister, wrote in
16768-508: Was the most important place of reform. In 1859, he published his book Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct . Smiles wrote articles for the Quarterly . In an article on railways, he argued that the railways should be nationalised and that third-class passengers should be encouraged. In 1861 Smiles published an article from the Quarterly , renamed Workers Earnings, Savings, and Strikes . He claimed poverty in many instances
16899-516: Was the son of Janet Wilson of Dalkeith and Samuel Smiles of Haddington. He was one of eleven surviving children. While his family members were strict Reformed Presbyterians , he did not practice. He studied at a local school, leaving at the age of 14. He apprenticed to be a doctor under Dr. Robert Lewins. This arrangement enabled Smiles to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1829. There he furthered his interest in politics, and became
17030-516: Was to have a Board of Guardians elected by rate-payers and property owners; those with higher rateable-value property were to have multiple votes, as for the Select Vestries set up under Sturges-Bourne's Acts . The Commission had no powers to insist that Unions built new workhouses (except where a majority of Guardians or rate-payers had given written consent), but they could order improvements to be made to existing ones. The Commission
17161-470: Was unpleasant provided a rationale for making relief unpleasant so that people would not claim it, "stigmatising" relief so that it became "an object of wholesome horror". When the Act was introduced, it did not legislate for a detailed Poor Law regime. Instead, it set up a three-man Poor Law Commission , an "at arms' length" quango to which Parliament delegated the power to make appropriate regulations, without making any provision for effective oversight of
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