First Period of Independent Chartist Activity. 
519 
workingmen there were Henry Hetherington, John Cleave, James 
Watson, Richard Moore, William Lovett, and John Vincent. 
Lovett wrote the document and Roebuck, who introduced it in 
Parliament, advised on legal points. The draft of the bill was 
endorsed far and wide by labor and other organizations and be¬ 
came the famous “ People’s Charter. ” The principal points of 
this bill were the same as those embodied in the report of Chas. 
Pox to the electors of Westminster in 1780. They were: 
I. Manhood suffrage. 
II. Annual parliaments. 
III. Vote by ballot. 
IV. Abolition of property qualification for seats in Parlia¬ 
ment. 
V. Payment of members of Parliament. 
VI. Division of the country into equal electoral districts. 
Three of these six points have since been practically realized, 
namely: manhood suffrage, vote by ballot, and abolition of prop¬ 
erty qualification. The division of the country into equal elec¬ 
toral districts has been practically realized. The remaining 
two demands, one for annual parliaments, the other for payment 
of members, do not seem to be vital points under the present 
system. 1 This petition, composed of as reasonable a series of 
demands as it was, and backed by a lively popular sentiment, 
was almost entirely ignored by the statesmen and prominent 
thinkers of the day. Leigh Hunt, Carlyle, Kingsley, and a few 
others only seemed to realize its significance and to understand 
the meaning of the struggles of the time. 
The next move after drawing up the bill was to bring pressure 
to bear upon Parliament to consider it. A petition was accord¬ 
ingly set on foot. A national convention of Chartists was called 
to meet at London in 1838. Delegates to the number of fifty- 
three assembled. The convention was composed of Moral Force 
Chartists and proved to be a temperate and sensible body. A 
public statement of principles was made and arrangements com¬ 
pleted for presenting their petition to the House of Commons. 
1 In 1892 (March 25) a resolution looking toward payment of members 
was lost in the House of Commons by 272 to 162 votes. This demand is a 
plank in the platform of the English Socialistic Labor Party. 
