ither continent r can any one mselves, would ible, therefore, ■, with indiffer

urces of Spain each other, it is still the true themselves, in

se.

THE movement called Chartism arose consequence of the failure of the Reform chise the working classes. The nature well set forth in the following petition. by the Council of the Birmingham Un of the so-called Six Points of the peti House of Commons in 1848. The sixth P districts was omitted, perhaps becau a corollary of universal suffrage. The st the petitioners demanded political, no they wanted Great Britain to be a truly The only Chartist proposal which has n incorporated in legislation was that for The maximum length of any Parliame limited to five years.

CHARTIST PETITION, I

To the honorable the Commons of Great Parliament assembled, the petition of suffering countrymen, humbly showeth:

I. That we, your petitioners, dwell in a la noted for their enterprise, whose manufact and whose workmen are proverbial for the itself is goodly, the soil rich, and the temper abundantly furnished with the materials o It has numerous and convenient harbors. communication it exceeds all others. For we have enjoyed a profound peace. Yet, v national prosperity, and with every dispo take advantage of them, we find ourselves of and private suffering. We are bowed down

1 R. G. Gammage, History of the Chartist Movemen Tyne, 1894.

broker is full. The workhouse is crowded, and the ma deserted. We have looked on every side; we have se gently in order to find out the causes of distress so sore continued. We can discover none in nature or in Providen has dealt graciously by the people, nor have the people grace, but the foolishness of our rulers has made the God of none effect. The energies of a mighty kin been wasted in building up the power of selfish and ign and its resources squandered for their aggrandizement. a part has been advanced at the sacrifice of the good of The few have governed for the interest of the few, while t of the many have been sottishly neglected, or insolently nously trampled upon.

V

II. It was the fond expectation of the friends of the a remedy for the greater part, if not for the whole of their would be found in the Reform Act of 1832. They regard as a wise means to a worthy end, as the machinery of a legislation, where the will of the masses would be at lengt They have been bitterly and basely deceived. The fruit, so fair to the eye, has turned to dust and ashes when gat Reform Act has effected a transfer of power from one dom tion to another, and left the people as helpless as before. has been exchanged for an apprenticeship to liberty, wh gravated the painful feelings of our social degradation, b them the sickening of still deferred hope. We come honorable house to tell you, with all humility, that this st must not be permitted to continue. That it cannot lo without very seriously endangering the stability of the the peace of the kingdom, and that if, by God's help, ar and constitutional appliances, an end can be put to it, resolved that it shall speedily come to an end. We tell able house that the capital of the master must no longer of its due profit; that the labor of the workman must deprived of its due reward. That the laws which mak and the laws which make money scarce, must be abolis taxation must be made to fall on property, not on industry

voice shall be implicitly listened to. We perform the duties of nen; we must have the privileges of freemen. Therefore, we nand universal suffrage. The suffrage, to be exempt from the uption of the wealthy and the violence of the powerful, mus ecret. The assertion of our right necessarily involves the pow ur uncontrolled exercise. We ask for the reality of a good, no is semblance, therefore we demand the ballot. The conne etween the representatives and the people, to be beneficial, e intimate. The legislative and constituent powers, for corre nd for instruction, ought to be brought into frequent contact. E hich are comparatively light, when susceptible of a speedy po medy, may produce the most disastrous effects when permitte row inveterate through years of compulsory endurance. To p afety, as well as public confidence, frequent elections are esse herefore, we demand annual parliaments. With power to ch nd freedom in choosing, the range of our choice must be unrestri e are compelled, by the existing laws, to take for our representa en who are incapable of appreciating our difficulties, or have mpathy with them; merchants who have retired from trade longer feel its harassings; proprietors of land who are alike nt of its evils and its cure; lawyers by whom the notoriety o nate is courted only as a means of obtaining notice in the co e labors of a representative who is sedulous in the dischar s duty are numerous and burdensome. It is neither just, nor nable, nor safe, that they should continue to be gratuitously red. We demand that in the future election of members of norable house the approbation of the constituency shall be the alification, and that, to every representative so chosen, sha igned out of the public taxes a fair and adequate remuneratio è time which he is called upon to devote to the public service

itional means, to have a law passed granting to every 1 age, sane mind, and unconvicted of crime, the right members of Parliament, and directing all future elections [ Parliament to be in the way of secret ballot, and orhe duration of Parliament, so chosen, shall in no case ear, and abolishing all property qualifications in the providing for their due remuneration while in attendparliamentary duties.

r petitioners shall ever pray."

British three to one. After the failure of the Rebellio 837, Great Britain sent Lord Durham as High Commissi o investigate the political situation in Canada. In his Re ord Durham recommended that Upper Canada (Onta nd Lower Canada (Quebec) be joined in a legislative ur order to bring about a peaceful fusion of Frenchmen nglishmen under a common government. This action nmediately taken, thus preparing the way for the Domi I Canada in 1867. The High Commissioner also rec ended that the fullest liberty be accorded the legislatur e united provinces, so that in the future they should be -ntrolled by the mother country, except in foreign af d other matters of strictly imperial interest. His argum r colonial self-government produced a lasting effect on Br licy. Not only did Great Britain grant free parliamen stitutions to Canada, but she has also bestowed them u r other white dominions in Australasia and South Africa

DURHAM REPORT, 1839

I. Such are the lamentable results of the political and social ich have so long agitated the Canadas; and such is their co 1 that, at the present moment, we are called on to take immed cautions against dangers so alarming as those of rebellion, for asion, and utter exhaustion and depopulation. When I loo various and deep-rooted causes of mischief which the The Report of the Earl of Durham, pp. 203–208, 229-231. Second Ed lon, 1905. Methuen and Company.