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The People's Charter: A Petition presented
to the House of Commons, 1842
PETITION:
That the only authority on which any body
of men can make laws and govern society is delegation from the people. That as Government was designed
for the benefit and protection of all, therefore all should be equally
represented. That the existing state of
representation is not only extremely limited and unjust, but unequally
divided, and gives preponderating influence to the landed and moneyed
interests to the utter ruin of the small-trading and laboring classes. That the borough of Guildford,
with a population of 3,920 returns to Parliament as many members as the Tower
Hamlets, with a population of 300,000; [one instance of many] of the enormous
inequalities existing in what is called the representation of this country. That bribery, intimidation,
corruption, perjury, and riot, prevail at all parliamentary elections to an
extent best understood by the Members of your honorable House. That your petitioners complain
that they are enormously taxed to pay the interest of what is termed the
national debt, . . .of the enormous amount expended
in cruel and expensive wars for the suppression of all liberty, by men not
authorized by the people, and who, consequently had no right to tax posterity
for the outrages committed by them upon mankind . . . and whilst poverty and
discontent rage over the land. . . . That in England, Ireland,
Scotland, and Wales, thousands of people are dying from actual want; and your
petitioners, whilst sensible that poverty is the great existing cause of
crime, view with mingled astonishment and alarm the ill provision made for
the poor, the aged, and infirm; and likewise perceive, with feelings of
indignation, the determination of your honorable House to continue the Poor
Law [the workhouse system for the poor] in operation, notwithstanding the
many proofs which have been afforded by sad experience . . of its unchristian
character . . . That your petitioners would direct
the attention of your honorable House to the great disparity existing between
the wages of the producing millions, and the salaries of those whose
comparative usefulness ought to be questioned; where the riches and luxury
prevail amongst the rulers, and poverty and starvation amongst the ruled. That your petitioners, with all
due respect and loyalty, would compare the daily income of the Sovereign
Majesty with that of thousands of the working men of this nation; and whilst
your petitioners have learned that her Majesty [Queen Victoria] receives
daily for her private use the sum of £164. 17s. 10d.,
they have also ascertained that many thousands of the families of the
laborers are only in the receipt 3¾d. per head per
day [i.e., over ten thousand times as much]. . . . That your petitioners have, with
pain and regret, also learned that the Archbishop of Canterbury is daily in
the receipt of £52. 10s. per day, whilst thousands of the poor have to
maintain their families upon an income not exceeding 2d. per
head per day. That unless immediate remedial
measures be adopted, your petitioners fear the increasing distress of the
people will lead to results fearful to contemplate . . . That your petitioners complain
that the right has unconstitutionally been infringed; and 500 well disposed
persons have been arrested, excessive bail demanded, tried by packed juries,
sentenced to imprisonment, and treated as felons of the worst description. That an unconstitutional police
force is distributed all over the country, at enormous cost, to prevent the
due exercise of the people's rights. And your petitioners are of opinion that
the Poor-law Bastilles [i.e., workhouses] and the police stations . . have originated from the same cause, viz., the increased
desire on the part of the irresponsible few to oppress and starve the many. .
. . That your petitioners complain
that the hours of labor, particularly of the factory workers are protracted
beyond the limits of human endurance, and that the wages earned, after
unnatural application to toil in heated and unhealthy workshops, are
inadequate to sustain the bodily strength, and supply those comforts which
are so imperative after an excessive waste of physical energy. That your petitioners also, direct
the attention of your honorable House to the starvation wages of the
agricultural laborer, and view with horror and indignation the paltry income
of those whose toil gives being to the staple food of this people. That your petitioners . . .
respectfully mention the existing monopolies of the suffrage, . . of land, of the public
press, of religious privileges, of the means of travelling and transit, and
of a host of other evils too numerous to mention, all arising from class
legislation, but which your honorable House has always consistently
endeavored to increase instead of diminish. That . . . your petitioners are of
opinion that it is the worst species of legislation which leaves the
grievances of society to be removed only by violence or revolution, both of
which may be apprehended if complaints are unattended to and petitions
despised. That petitioners complain that
upwards of nine millions of pounds per annum are unjustly abstracted from
them to maintain a church establishment [i.e., the
Church of England], from which they principally dissent [i.e., not being
members of the C. of E.];... Your petitioners complain that it
is unjust and not in accordance with the Christian religion, to enforce
compulsory support of religious creeds, and expensive church establishments,
with which the people do not agree. That your petitioners direct the
attention of your honorable House to the enormous revenue annually swallowed
up by the bishops and the clergy, and entreat you to contrast their deeds
with the conduct of the founder of the Christian religion, who denounced
worshippers of Mammon, and taught charity, meekness, and brotherly love. . . That your petitioners maintain
that it is . . constitutional
right . . of every male inhabitant of the United
Kingdom, he being of age and of sound mind, non-convict of crime, and not
confined under any judicial process, to exercise the elective franchise in
the choice of Members to serve in the Commons House of Parliament. That
. . Parliament should be held once
in each year. . . . That your petitioners complain
that possession of property is made the test of men's qualification to sit in
Parliament. That your petitioners complain,
that by influence, patronage, and intimidation, there is at present no purity
of election; and your petitioners contend for the right of voting by (secret)
ballot. That your petitioners
. . contend that . . all
representatives should be paid a limited amount for their services. That your petitioners complain of
the many grievances borne by the people of Ireland, and contend that they are
fully entitled to a repeal of the legislative union [i.e.,
that they be governed by their own separate parliament]. That . . should
your honorable House be pleased to grant your petitioners a hearing . . your
petitioners will be enabled to unfold a tale of wrong and suffering--of
intolerable injustice--which will create utter astonishment in the minds of
all benevolent and good men, that the people of Great Britain and Ireland
have so long quietly endured their wretched condition, brought upon them as
it has been by unjust exclusion from political authority, and by the manifold
corruptions of class legislation. That your petitioners, therefore, . . demand that your honorable House do...immediately,
without alteration, deduction, or addition, pass into law the document
entitled 'The People's Charter', which embraces the: [Ref.: British Parliamentary
Debates, May 3, 1842] |