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TEADES' SOCIETIES 
 
 STRIKES. 
 
 Itpvt 4 tite imimittte «it irata' ^mkim, 
 
 APPOINTED BX THE 
 
 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION 
 
 FOR 
 
 THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE, 
 
 PllESENTED AT THE 
 
 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING 
 
 OF THE ASSOCIATION, 
 AT GLASGOW, SEPTEMBEE, 1860. 
 
 LONDOX: 
 
 JOHN W. PARKEE AND SON, WEST STRAND. 
 
 1860. 
 
■^%^-A-Hi^^ 
 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 ralNTED B^ IMIM FAITHFUIL & CO., 
 
 YICTOKIA IBESS (FOK THE EMPLOIMENT OF WOMEN), 
 
 GKBAT CORAM STKBET, W.C. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 IIST OP TKADE SOCIETIES' COMMITTEE iv 
 
 PREJAOE V 
 
 EEPORT vii 
 
 ACOOUHT OF NOKTHAMPTON BOOT AND SHOE MAKERS' STRIKE, BY JOHN BAIL . 1 
 ACCOTJNT 0¥ WEST YORKSHIRE COAl STRIKE AND lOOK-OUT OE 1858, BX J. M. 
 
 LUDLOW 11 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE STRIKE AND LOOK-OUT OF THE BUILDING TRADES IN LONDON 
 
 IN 1859-60, BY THOMAS R. BENNETT AND G. SHAW lEFEVRE .... 52 
 ACCOUNT OP printers' STRIKES AND TRADES' UNIONS SINCE JANUARY, 1845, 
 
 BY J. W. OKOMPTON 77 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE LONDON CONSOLIDATED SOCIETY OF BOOKBINDERS, BY T. J. 
 
 DUNNING 93 
 
 ACCOUNT OP THE STRIKE AND LOCK-OUT OF THE FLINT GLASS MAKERS IN 
 
 1858-9, BY GODFREY LUSHINGTON 104 
 
 REPORT ON trades' SOCIETIES' RULES, BY G. SHAW LEFEVRE 114 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE STRIKE OF CHAIN MAKERS IN THE MIDLAND COUNTIES, BY 
 
 GODFREY LUSHINGTON 147 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE LOOK-OUT OP ENGINEERS IN 1851-52, BY THOMAS HUGHES . 169 
 ACCOUNT OF THE STRIKE AND LOCK-OUT IN THE COTTON TRADE AI PRESTON 
 
 IN 1853, BY JAMES LOWE 207 
 
 ABSTRACT OF MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS, BY GODFREY LUSHINGTON . . , . 265 
 
 ACCOUNT OF LEGISLATION RELATING TO COMBINATIONS, BY P. D. lONGE . . 339 
 ABSTRACT OP PARLIAMENTARY REPORT ON COMBINATIONS, 1824, BY PHILIP 
 
 H. RATHBONE 351 
 
 ABSTRACT OF PARLIAMENTARY REPORT ON COMBINATIONS, 1825, BY FRANK 
 
 H. HILL 373 
 
 ABSTRACT OF PARLIAMENTARY REPORTS ON COMBINATIONS, 1838, BY GODFREY 
 
 LUSHINGTON 387 
 
 ACCOUNT OF weavers' STRIKE AT PADIHAM, IN 1859, BY WILLIAM A. JEVONS. 433 
 ACCOUNT OF spinners' STRIKE AT ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE, IN 1830, BY WILLIAM 
 
 A. JEYONS 473 
 
 ACCOUNT OP SHIPWRIGHTS TRADES* SOCIETIES, IN HVERPOOL, THE TYNE, AND 
 
 OTHER PORTS, BY PHILIP H. RATHBONE 479 
 
 ACCOUNT OF TRADE COMBINATIONS IN SHEFFIELD, BY FRANK H. HILL . . . 521 
 
 ACCOUNT OF LEGISLATION AFFECTING LABOUR IN FRANCE, BY M. LOUIS BLANC. 588 
 
 DISCUSSION AT GLASGOW 595 
 
 APPENDIX 624 
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENTS OP THE VOLUME 631 
 
 INDEX 644 
 
TRADES' SOCIETIES' COMMITTEE. 
 
 T. D. ACLAXD, ESQ. 
 
 ED. AKROYD, ESQ. 
 
 JNO. BALL, ESQ. 
 
 THOS. EAXDLE BEXXETT,' ESQ. 
 
 CHAS. BUXTOX, .ESQ., M.P. 
 
 J. W. CROMPTOX, ESQ. 
 
 J. T. DAXSOX, ESQ. 
 
 T. J. DUNNING, ESQ. 
 
 A. EDGAR, ESQ. 
 
 W.EARR, ESQ., M.D., F.R.S. 
 
 H. FAWCETT, ESQ., M.A. 
 
 W. E. FORSTER, ESQ. 
 
 H. W. FREELAND, ESQ., il.P. 
 
 G. W. HASTINGS, ESQ. 
 
 CHARLES HAWKINS, ESQ. 
 
 REV. BROOKE HERFORD. 
 
 R. H. HUTTON, ESQ. 
 
 V\^. A. JEVONS, ESQ. 
 
 J. M. LUDLOW, ESQ. 
 
 GEO. S. LEFEVRE, ESQ. 
 
 GODFREY LUSHINGTON, ESQ. 
 
 H. MANN, ESQ. 
 
 LORD ROBERT MONTAGUE, M.P. 
 
 REV. F. D. MAURICE. 
 
 J. W. PARKER, JUN., ESQ. 
 
 LORD RADSTOCK. 
 
 W. B. RANKEN, ESQ. 
 
 SIR. JAS. P. KAY SHUtTLEWORTH, BART. 
 
 PROFESSOR JXO. WILSON. 
 
 THOMAS HUGHES, ESQ., -i 
 
 P. H. RATHBONE, ESQ., I ^""- ^^"■^'«"''^*- 
 
 F. H. HILL, ESQ., Assistant Secrclanj. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The preparation of some parts of this volume, and the 
 printing of the whole of it, have been very much hurried, in 
 order that it might be ready for publication at the time of the 
 Glasgow Meeting. To this cause must be attributed any 
 textual errors which may be noticed. No serious inaccu- 
 racy, however, has, it is hoped, been committed ; though, 
 from the desire to include information received at a very late 
 period, some of the materials placed at the disposal of the 
 Committee have been very hastily arranged. To avoid delay, 
 no attempt has been made to distribute the Special Reports, 
 which form the larger part of the volume, in any order depen- 
 dent on their subjects. Those who have been engaged in a 
 similar work will be best able to appreciate the difficulties that 
 surround it, and will be most willing to make allowance for 
 inevitable defects in the editing and form of the volume. 
 
 o 
 
 It is due to the authors of most of the later papers to state 
 that it has not been practicable to allow them opportunities of 
 revising their Reports in proof. 
 
 The Committee feel bound to tender their special thanks 
 to M. Louis Blanc, for his courteous and interesting reply to 
 inquiries made on their behalf, with respect to usages or laws 
 affecting the freedom of labour in France; and to F. D. Longe, 
 
iv Preface. 
 
 Esq., for permission to reprint, from his valuable pamphlet on 
 the Law of Strikes, a sketch of the history of legislation on 
 that subject in England. Their thanks are also due and are 
 respectfully tendered to all those who have, in different de- 
 grees and ways, assisted them in their undertaking. 
 
 It is right to state, that but for the unremitting exertions of 
 Miss FaithfuU, the printer of this volume, its appearance at 
 the present time would have been utterly impossible. 
 
 P. H. E. 
 
EEPOET. 
 
 This Committee was appointed by the Council of the Associa- 
 tion at the suggestion of a meeting held at Liverpool in October, 
 1858. The object for which it was appointed will be found 
 described in the papers in the Appendix, and in the prelimi- 
 nary Report of the Committee printed in the Transactions of 
 the Association at Bradford, in 1859. 
 
 The Committee were prepared to encounter great difficulty 
 in prosecuting their inquiries, and to meet with much opposi- 
 tion and not a little jealousy on the part of trades' societies. 
 This expectation has in very few cases been fulfilled. After 
 slight hesitation, by far the greater proportion of the societies 
 applied to have come forward with promptness, and in some 
 cases have taken considerable trouble to give the Committee 
 full and accurate information. In a few instances, traces of the 
 old leaven of suspicion and jealousy appeared; but these were 
 exceptions. The cordial manner in which this inquiry has been 
 met upon the part of trades' societies generally throughout the 
 island demonstrates the great advance that has been made since 
 the old days of secret societies. 
 
 Although the response on the part of the employers was not 
 so general, yet a considerable number gave to the Committee 
 valuable information, and some of the employers' associations 
 forwarded important documents. 
 
 Besides this, a number of friends in different parts of the 
 country, unconnected with either party, collected information 
 in their respective neighbourhoods. 
 
 The Committee in this way received an amount of assistance 
 and co-operation beyond what they were prepared to expect. 
 
 The mass of material at last became so great, that they found 
 that the only method of reducing it to shape was to place cer- 
 tain portions of it in the hands of different members, to draw up 
 special reports, for each of which the author alone was to be 
 responsible; since it was manifestly impossible that any one 
 could be answerable for the accuracy of a report who had not 
 carefully gone through the complicated series of papers upon 
 which that report was to be founded. The Committee, there- 
 fore, is collectively responsible only for the general views ex- 
 pressed In this Report. 
 
viii Report. 
 
 A trade society, strictly speaking, is a combination of work- 
 men to enable each to secure the conditions most favourable for 
 labour. 
 
 The capitalist has the advantage of past accumulations in 
 striking his bargain. The labourer, unassisted by combination, 
 has not. It is the object of a trade society to give him this 
 advantage, and thus to put him on more equal ground in 
 competing with the capitalist. 
 
 Many trades' societies have institutions for other purposes 
 attached to them, such as benefit societies, societies for in- 
 surance of tools, libraries, reading- rooms, &c., but these, how- 
 ever desirable some of them may be, are still merely accessories. 
 Amono- the methods by which different trades' societies 
 endeavour to compass their objects are the following : — 
 
 Publishing periodically the state of the trade in different 
 parts of the country ; 
 
 Keeping a book of names of unemployed men and of em- 
 ployers wanting men; 
 
 Assisting men from town to town in search of employment, 
 and occasionally to emigrate; 
 
 Regulating the number of apprentices in the trade ; 
 Maintaining men in resistance to their employers; 
 Regulating the number of working hours and the rules of the 
 trade ; 
 
 Organizing strikes. 
 
 One remarkable effect of trade societies — which is, strictly 
 speaking, in conformity with economical laws — is, that by these 
 means they render the rate of wages more equable over the 
 same trade ; but in as much as they tend in many cases to hinder 
 the introduction of fresh workmen into particular trades they 
 so far impede the transfer of labour from one employment to 
 another. Skilled labour, however, cannot, when one trade is 
 overstocked, immediately flow into another which is understocked ; 
 and it requires a certain lapse of time, sometimes even a gene- 
 ration, before the balance can be readjtisted, during which 
 time the ups and downs of the trade may have been most 
 numerous. It requires, indeed, but a short time of extra profits 
 in a trade to draw capital into it which cannot perhaps be with- 
 drawn at the close of a temporary period of prosperity. A mill 
 built, or a coal-pit sunk, is so much capital permanently locked 
 up. A coal-owner informed the Committee, that for this reason 
 a period of extra high prices for coal was a positive evil. A 
 judicious rise of wages in time may prevent this evil. On the 
 other hand, a starving man cannot stop to bargain too closely for 
 means of existence. Wages being thus reduced, competition 
 
Report. ix 
 
 among the masters may keep down profits to their average 
 rate, and wages may remain lamentably low, until old hands 
 dying off, and few new ones coming up, a scarcity of labour 
 begins to be felt. How long it is before low wages produce 
 their natural effect in this way, may be gathered from the his- 
 tory of the hand-loom weavers of Lancashire and of the stock- . 
 ingers of Notts. It is the not being able to hold for a market that \ 
 places the artisan in an unfortunate position, and sometimes pre- 
 vents him from obtaining the fair market price. In so far as trades' 
 societies enable the artisan to do this, they do not violate the 
 strictest laws of political economy. In instances which have ' 
 come under the notice of the Committee, it has been asserted 
 that masters have told the men that trade would bear higher 
 wages if all masters would agree to give them, and have advised 
 a combination for the purpose. According to the law of political 
 economy, which supposes that when wages are low men will 
 leave a trade, or at least, not bring up their children to it, this 
 is a state of things which could not long endure ; but there is 
 a cause which in some trades interferes with this law, and 
 which deserves attention. The necessity under which the 
 very poor labour of making available every means of sub- 
 sistence induces the father to procure employment for his 
 children at the earliest possible age ; and he may very likely 
 have no opportunity of introducing them to any other trade, 
 than his own. On the other hand, in Lancashire it is found! 
 that a rise in wages sometimes actually reduces the supply of j 
 labour, by enabling and inducing a family to retain one of the \ 
 girls at home to assist the mother. i 
 
 There are two classes of trades, which stand upon very dif- 
 ferent bases. The building trades may be taken as an example 
 of one class, and the cotton manufactures of the other. While 
 it is quite conceivable that the cutlery trade of Sheffield, the 
 cotton trade of Lancashire or Lanarkshire, or the woollen trade 
 of Yorkshire, might entirely disappear from the country, this 
 is not the case with the building trades ; for it is impossible to 
 carry them on except within a limited area. This makes a 
 building strike of much greater present inconvenience, but of 
 far less ultimate consequence, than a strike in a trade manu- 
 facturing exportable articles, and renders the action of trades' 
 unions in the latter a question of more serious import than in 
 the former; as in one case the competition is confined to the coun- 
 try, in the other it is between ourselves and the whole world. 
 
 The answers received by the Committee, and the prefaces to 
 the rules of the different societies, for the most part agree in 
 asserting as the primary reason of trades' societies, that without 
 
X Report. 
 
 combiiiatioii the workman cannot In all cases secure the market 
 price of his labour, but is, to a certain extent, at the mercy of 
 his employer. This for two reasons : 
 
 1st. That in trades where one establishment employs a large 
 number of workmen, the employer can discharge a single work- 
 man with comparatively slight inconvenience, while the work- 
 man loses his whole means of subsistence; so that to discuss 
 wages upon equal terms with the employer, it is necessary for the 
 artisans of each establishment to be unanimous in their action. 
 
 2nd. That without the machinery qf combination, the work- 
 man being dependent upon his daily work for his daily bread, 
 cannot hold for a market. 
 
 To these arguments it is replied by those who object to unions : 
 
 1st. That the law of supply and demand would, if profits 
 trenched unduly upon wages, bring in fresh capital, and so 
 provide for the raising of wages; or if profits were reduced 
 by competition, then that labour would flow out until the wages 
 rose to their proper level. 
 
 2nd. That every man ought to save, so as not to be living 
 from hand to mouth. 
 
 The opinions of trades' secretaries are of course unanimous 
 upon these points, but the Committee have found great difference 
 of opinion to exist among employers ; many believing, that with- 
 out combination, workmen in their trades could not secure 
 the fair market rate of wages. The evidence of one employer* 
 ^ upon this point is curious ; it is to the effect, that when men work 
 separately at their own houses they cannot secure a fair rate of 
 wages without combination, but that when they work together 
 in factories they can. The cases that exceptionally occur in 
 which an unusually high rate of profit is accompanied by a 
 lower than the ordinary rate of wages are open to correction 
 by combination of the workmen, and by the aid extended from 
 one trade society to another. 
 
 The Committee fear that the facility with which fair demands 
 have been obtained, has, in some cases, emboldened newly 
 formed trades' societies to demand more than was justly their 
 due, or than they could receive without trenching unduly on 
 the wages of their fellow-labourers in other trades. They are 
 further of opinion, that in some of the more highly skilled and 
 limited trades a strict system of combination has enabled work- 
 men to demand wages out of proportion to the value of their 
 labour, and that in those trades production has been seriously 
 checked. 
 
 * See Report on Chain Makers, p. 162. 
 
Report. xi 
 
 Any man who has a commodity to sell, may sell it upon what 
 conditions he chooses ; but every inconvenient condition with 
 which he fetters the sale reduces the value of the article. Some of 
 the rules of trades' societies directly tend to reduce the value 
 of labour, and therefore in the end the rate of wages ; as 
 when they contain stipulations that skilled labour shall be em- 
 ployed to perform operations which unskilled labour would be 
 perfectly competent to discharge. In large trades it is quite 
 hopeless to expect that it will be possible for the closest com- 
 bination to raise wages for any considerable time to a rate beyond 
 the value of the work done ; and to waste skilled labour upon 
 unskilled occupation is deliberately to reduce its value. There ; 
 are certain conditions which affect health of body or mind, per- 
 sonal safety, or the method of payment, upon which the workman , 
 may fairly insist ; and when trade societies limit themselves to 
 these, the Committee conceive no valid objections can be taken. 
 Such are opposition to the truck system,* the demand for the 
 protection of machinery, &c. &c. When, however, they ; 
 insist on certain methods of doing the work which are less 
 economical than others, in the hope of creating more work, 
 they simply reduce their own wages and not the master's 
 profits. Not only so, when a trade society constantly interferes 
 with processes of manufacture, the annoyance and element 
 of uncertainty thus introduced renders a larger average rate 
 of profit necessary to tempt capital into the trade, and there- 
 fore a less margin for wages is left. There is one method in 
 which it appears to the Committee that trade societies have a 
 full right to interfere, and that is to prevent false or defective 
 workmanship. Every workman guilty of manufacturing, or of 
 aiding in the manufacture of, any article which is not what it 
 purports to be, either in quantity or quality, casts a suspicion 
 upon all similar articles manufactured in the town, and thereby 
 much depreciates their value. No rule can be too stringent 
 to prevent this. It may be well to remark, that rules which 
 have been supposed to be mere wanton interference with the 
 working powers of the men, are sometimes justified as intended 
 to secure honest work. Of this nature is one rule which has been 
 animadverted on by the press, viz., the rule forbidding a brick- 
 layer to lay down his trowel, and use two hands at once in laying 
 bricks; which, upon inquiry, the Committee find is defended on 
 the ground that laying bricks with two hands causes an insuffi- 
 ciency of mortar between the bricks. Nevertheless, workmen 
 cannot too cautiously abstain from interfering with the methoda 
 
 * The Committee regret to find that the Truck Act is i nmany cases evaded, 
 
 a2 
 
o 
 
 xii Report. 
 
 by whicli the employer conducts his business. It is at least as 
 much upon the enterprise and farsightedness of the employers 
 of Great Britain, as upon their capital, that the value of British 
 labour depends. The daily and constant action of fettering 
 prejudices on the part of workmen may in the long run cause 
 greater loss of wealth to the country than all the strikes p^it 
 together and doubled. The loss caused by these latter can be 
 estimated, at any rate, to a certain extent ; but the loss from 
 improvements in processes of manufacture abandoned, or from 
 projects allowed to remain castles in the air, because there 
 " would be difficulties with the men about them," is utterly 
 incalculable. No doubt many of these prejudices are most 
 unfairly charged to the action of trades' societies ; which are 
 bound by their position not only to avoid encouraging them, 
 but to exert every means in their power to destroy them. 
 
 An important function of a trade society as at present consti- 
 tuted, is by careful inquiry and discussion to arrive at some 
 understanding as to what ought to be the market price of labour. 
 This arrangement is often advantageous in proportion to the size 
 of the area over which it extends. But in endeavouring to cause 
 the adoption of a common standard of wages over a wide area, the 
 degree of justice attained against want of fairness or capacity in 
 single employers or in isolated localities, is to be balanced against 
 the embarrassments necessarily encountered in the attempt to ad- 
 just the differences or local facilities for manufacture arising from 
 varieties in the prices of fuel, carriage, motive power, house ac- 
 commodation, or other means of livelihood, and in the raw mate- 
 rial or processes employed as affecting the rate of production 
 to each workman. Large combinations of workmen have there- 
 fore both to wield great power and also to employ that power in 
 the settlement of questions requiring great knowledge of the 
 details of trade, and even more patience and skill in the adjust- 
 ment of conflicting claims. 
 
 On the part of the workmen the danger exists, that a standard 
 intended to settle the minimum rate of wages should be adopted 
 as a rate uniform both as respects time and skill. Under such 
 circumstances, skill and trustworthiness operate rather to ensure 
 regular employment. Large combinations comprising a wide 
 area usually give rise to antagonist associations of masters. 
 The settlement of the rate of wages thus becomes a contest 
 between two great parties instead of a question between indi- 
 vidual masters and their men. The influence of long established 
 personal relations thus ceases to soften the asperities of such 
 discussions. 
 
 The question of strikes is undoubtedly an important element 
 
Report. xiii 
 
 in inquiring into the action of trades' societies ; but it has ab- 
 sorbed public attention as if it were the only one. A great 
 many strikes originate in trades which have no then existing or- 
 ganization, but if a strike assumes any considerable proportions, 
 a governing body is appointed at the time to carry it on. 
 The Committee are disposed to believe that leaders of a strike, 
 where there is no regularly organized society, are likely to 
 prove more unreasonable ajid violent than where there is. 
 A large proportion of strikes appear to have been precijpitated 
 by want of temper and courtesy upon one side, or on both; 
 and the facts collected seem to show that the executive of 
 a large society are more likely to take a cool and moderate 
 view of a question in dispute than the men engaged in the heat 
 of conflict. It is not to be denied, however, that sometimes 
 there is a temptation to executive committees to keep up agita- 
 tion beyond "what is necessary, in order to increase their impor- 
 tance and to show their zeal ; but experience gradually teaches, 
 that the best executive committee is the one which succeeds in 
 accommodating most disputes amicably, and whose zeal is shown 
 in|maintaining the efficiency and prosperity of those auxiliary 
 institutions which have generally formed important parts of 
 the organization of trades' societies. Strikes hold in the inter- 
 course between employer and employed the same place that war 
 holds with regard to the intercourse of nations. There may be . 
 occasions upon which a strike is just and necessary, but the 
 necessity is always a sad one ; and any man who aids in com- 
 mencing a strike, without having by every means in his power 
 attempted to avert it, is guilty of the crime of wantonly bringing 
 misery upon his fellow workmen, and of injuring the prosperity 
 of his country. In another resf)ect strikes resemble war. The 
 constant fear of a strike is as great an interruption to business 
 and as great a check to enterprise in a trade, as the constant 
 fear of war is to the business and enterprise of the world. 
 Workmen are sometimes disposed to think that merely keep- 
 ing up an agitation, without an intention of striking, may 
 do good, and can do no harm ; instead of which, all the un- 
 certainty and disquiet they thus cause deteriorate the value, 
 and therefore ultimately the j)rice, of their labour. Trades' 
 societies are beginning very generally to understand this truth, 
 and although it may be feared that their practice is not, upon 
 all occasions, up to their theory, yet the Committee venture to 
 hope for an improvement In this respect, though the prevalence 
 of strikes during the last two years is rather discouraging. 
 The Committee have not found that the constant assertion 
 that strikes are scarcely ever successful, is at all borne out by 
 
xiv Report. 
 
 facts. They are further disposed to believe, that In some cases 
 the existence of a regularly organized trade society has pre- 
 vented the frequent occurrence of strikes. With respect to 
 methods of avoiding these struggles, they believe that when the 
 question in dispute relates to conditions of labour, much may 
 be done by arbitration. Co-operative establislmients may also 
 do much in ascertaining the relative market value of manual 
 labour, of intellectual labour, and of capital. 
 
 The question of the advantage of a connexion between 
 benefit societies and trades' societies is one upon which there 
 is much room for diiference of opinion. The principal ad- 
 vantage appears to be, that a single set of officers, &c., being 
 able to carry on both societies by the same machinery, the 
 management is more economical; the principal disadvantage, 
 that there is a temptation in time of need to appropriate benefit 
 funds to strike purposes, and that there is a very strong motive, 
 amounting even to a kind of moral compulsion, held out to 
 members of the friendly society to acquiesce, from interested 
 motives, in the general policy of the trades' union, lest by 
 resistance they should endanger their sick allowances and life 
 insurance. 
 
 In the case of friendly societies the Legislature has provided 
 a simple and efficacious remedy for individual members ; but 
 where the objects of a benefit society are combined with those 
 of a trade society, the registration under the Friendly Societies 
 Act being impossible, such a remedy is entirely wanting. It 
 is quite impossible, in such cases, for individual members to pre- 
 vent, however much they may disapprove, the expenditure on 
 trade purposes of funds which they have subscribed for benefit 
 purposes, and which should be laid by to meet the future exi- 
 gencies of the society, without recurrence to the Court of 
 Chancery, — a course which is obviously beyond their means. 
 
 It may also happen, that members may be driven into a course 
 which they disapprove of through fear of losing the benefits in 
 which through previous subscription they have attained a valu- 
 able interest. In this way the majority may have the power, 
 under the present law, of forcing a minority to act in a direction 
 which was perhaps never contemplated by the members on the 
 formation of the society. 
 
 To the c|uestion of the effect which trade societies have upon 
 the efficiency of workmen, no general answer can be given. 
 It appears, in some cases, that trade societies have done some- 
 thing, though they might have done considerably more, to 
 prevent inferior work ; but there are other cases in which the 
 influence of trade societies has apparently been prejudicial to 
 
Report. XV 
 
 the efficiency and skill of the workman. It cannot be too 
 often repeated, that to increase the value of any article is 
 the safest way of raising its price. 
 
 The character and class of workmen who support the societies 
 differ in different trades ; there are some where most of the re- 
 spectable workmen in the trade belong to the society; there are 
 a few trades where the ablest and most highly skilled workmen 
 stand aloof from the union. 
 
 The character, ability and wisdom of the leaders of trade 
 societies also naturally vary much in different trades. So far 
 as this Committee have been brought into personal connexion 
 with societies' officers, their experience is, that the leaders.are for 
 the most part quite superior to the majority of their fellow- 
 workmen in intelligence and moderation. Many of them have 
 given most effective and intelligent aid in the prosecution of 
 this inquiry. 
 
 The effect of trades' societies as an education in the art of 
 self-government is important. Many of the societies have orga- 
 nizations of an elaborate character, and have a machinery for 
 taking the votes of the trade at once simple and effectual ; and 
 in many trades no strike can be authorized until the question 
 has been discussed by several committees. This gives a habit 
 of deliberation before action which cannot but have a good 
 effect. 
 
 Men who will think for themselves are, and probably always 
 will be, the exception and not the rule ; the great mass of man- 
 kind must have leaders. The Committee believe that it is 
 better that these should be recognised and responsible men, 
 who can be held accountable for the advice they give. 
 
 The leaders of trades' societies are known and responsible 
 men; they have the confidence of their own class. Through 
 them prejudices may be dispelled, and the laws of that political 
 economy which, correctly understood, is the workman's best 
 friend, gradually acquiesced in and obeyed. 
 
 There is one very serious question to which the Committee 
 have directed attention, viz., the treatment of non-society 
 men by society men. There appears to be a great improvement 
 in this respect ; nevertheless, the Committee fear that in too 
 many instances the rights of non-society men are not respected, 
 and that they are subjected to unjustifiable persecution. The 
 murderous outrages which have disgraced the hardware trades of ■ 
 Sheffield, the needles put into the clay of brickmakers in Lan- 
 cashire, the bellows cutting of the Midland counties, are, it is 
 hoped and believed, exceptional cases ; but although the societies 
 of these trades deny any complicity in these crimes, the evi- j 
 
xvi Report. 
 
 dence in some instances is too strong and direct to enable the 
 Committee to acquit them of at least conniving at them. No 
 doubt the great majority of trades' societies view these tran- 
 sactions with the same abhorrence that any right minded body 
 must do ; but the Committee think that respectable trades' 
 societies ought distinctly to announce that they will hold no 
 communication, and that they will disclaim all fellowship, with 
 the society of any trade in which outrages occur. When out- 
 rages are frequent, it must be because the j)ublic opinion of the 
 trade is bad, and as the trade society is the expression of the 
 public opinion of a trade, it must be held responsible, whether 
 direct complicity can be legally proved or not. Though these 
 extreme measures have happily become exceptional, yet there 
 are minor methods of annoyance, which it is feared are still too 
 frequently practised. The Committee trust that the officers of 
 trades' societies will most earnestly repress all such petty perse- 
 cution ; for they may rest assured that public opinion in a free 
 country will never tolerate any infringement of the liberty of 
 the subject. Even if it could be proved that the prosperity of 
 any trade could be attained only at the expense of individual 
 freedom, there would be no hesitation in the country as to which 
 should be sacrificed. Public feeling will never countenance the 
 officers of a voluntary association, however respectable, in exer- 
 cising powers which have been constantly refused to the impe- 
 rial authority. 
 
 It is only fair to observe that intolerance of difference of 
 opinion, from which these evils spring, is a vice by no means 
 confined to trade societies, but is one which in politics and 
 religion has worked innumerable evils, and has only been kept 
 in check by the cordial hatred with which men regard all 
 tyranny except their own. 
 
 The conduct of emplo)'ers' associations towards trades' 
 societies has on too many occasions been most unfortunate. 
 However wrong-headed in particular cases the leaders of unions 
 may be, they are the duly elected representatives of their trade, 
 and ought to be treated with consideration and courtesy. The 
 fiction that they are self-elected is one which it would not be 
 worth alluding to, if it had not been seriously repeated in the 
 Edinburgh Revieio. So far as the Committee have been able to 
 learn, the officers of trades' societies are genuinely the repre- 
 sentatives of their constituencies. , The strong language which 
 is too often indulged in by both sides during the disputes of 
 employers with employed, only betrays that there is felt to be 
 something more than a commercial bond between them, and 
 though mischievous and irritating, it may be forgotten after the 
 
Report. xvii 
 
 heat of the contest is past ; but the Committee cannot but think 
 it very unfortunate when masters' associations address their 
 workmen through a lawyer, rather than through one of them- 
 selves, or when a trade society urges its claims upon the platform 
 by the instrmnentality of men who have no connexion with the 
 trade. This remark of course does not refer to the choice of an 
 impartial arbitratoi*. 
 
 The Committee conceive that there will be very little difference 
 of opinion as to the advantage of the trade circulars issued by 
 some of the societies, giving the state of trade in various parts of 
 the country, and as to the reading rooms and libraries in con- 
 nexion with other societies, where men can spend their unem- 
 ployed hours. 
 
 The Committee wish to record their opinion distinctly, that 
 improvement in the management of trades' societies has been 
 most marked and satisfactory. 
 
 They cannot, however, consider that the relations between 
 employer and employed are in ^ healthy state when strikes and 
 lock-outs are so lamentably numerous as they have been during 
 the last two years. 
 
 Employers and employed have no right to manage their 
 affairs so badly as to cause inconvenience to third parties Every 
 man who pays poor rates has a right to complain at their being 
 increased in consequence of avoidable distress ; not to mention 
 the still more direct inconvenience caused by all considerable 
 strikes to large bodies of men totally unconcerned, on either side, 
 with the cause of dispute. 
 
 On the subject of apprenticeship, and the rules, written or 
 customary, by which many trades' societies enforce the neces- 
 sity, and restrict the privilege of it, as a condition of exercising 
 their respective trades, the Committee forbear at present to 
 express any opinion. They would be glad, if it were practi- 
 cable, tliat this question, and others arising out of it, should on 
 some future occasion receive special and systematic inquiry 
 on the basis of a tolerably complete and exhaustive collection 
 of facts. 
 
 The Committee have come to the following conclusions from 
 the evidence before them : — 
 
 1. That trades' societies have of late years increased in 
 number, and that an increased number of working men have 
 become members of them. 
 
 ' 2. That societies composed of workmen who are engaged in 
 the same trade in different parts of the country have shown a 
 disposition to unite, and that societies connected with different 
 trades in the same town have also shown a disposition to unite. 
 
xviii Report. 
 
 3. That the principles upon which trade societies regulate 
 their proceedings are more moderate, and that discussions be- 
 tween the workmen belonging to them and their masters have 
 been managed in a fairer spirit than in the times before the 
 repeal of the laws against combination. 
 
 4. That the workmen belonging to these societies form a 
 better estimate now than heretofore of the condition of their 
 respective trades, that they are less unreasonable in their ex- 
 pectations of obtaining increased wages, that they understand 
 better the necessity of submitting to reductions, that they have 
 generally overcome the prejudices which they once entertained 
 against machinery, and that their leaders are men of higher 
 character and intelligence. 
 
 5. That the strikes, though more frequent, are conducted 
 with less violence than in former days, though there remains 
 room for improvement in this respect, especially as regards 
 trade disputes at Sheffield, and the attempts elsewhere made to 
 intimidate, by publishing in the weekly balance-sheets inju- 
 rious personal imputations or threats, as well as every other 
 attempt to control the voluntary action of individuals or 
 minorities. 
 
 6. That these changes are owing in great measure to the 
 increased publicity which has been given to the rules of the 
 Societies, and to the action of public opinion upon them since 
 they have ceased to be illegal. 
 
 7. That the establishment of joint-stock companies, the capital 
 of which has been chiefly subscribed by working men, and the 
 management of which is controlled by them in different parts 
 of England, will be of great use to working men, by contri- 
 buting, both when they succeed and when they fail, to increase 
 the operatives' experience of the relative value of manual and 
 of intellectual labour and of capital, and by showing them that 
 there are fluctuations in trade over which the masters have no 
 control. 
 
 8. That there are still in many trades' societies rules — some 
 acknowledged, some concealed — which interfere with the free- 
 dom of the masters, and of the men within as well as without 
 the bodies that impose them, and which persons of all schools 
 in pohtical and social economy must utterly condemn. 
 
 9. That trades' societies have secured the co-operation of 
 many prudent workmen, by undertaking to provide mainte- 
 nance for those who are casually out of emplojrment, or who' 
 are seeking for it by assuming the functions of benefit societies, 
 occasionally by promoting emigration, or establishing reading 
 rooms and libraries. 
 
Report. xix 
 
 10. That whilst this union of purposes adds to the attraction 
 of these societies, it not seldom enables a majority of their 
 members to dominate over an unwUling minority in strikes and 
 all their consequences. 
 
 11. That the legal difficulties which rich societies experience ! 
 in finding a profitable investment for their funds often increase \ 
 greatly the temptation to employ them in strikes. 
 
 12. That, leaving out of account the accidental benefits and j 
 the accidental mischiefs of trade societies, it must be admitted i 
 that they have at times assisted the workmen in a trade more ' 
 speedily to realize higher wages when the profits and wages in 
 it have been rising, and that they have in some instances been 
 of advantage to the master by producing a greater uniformity 
 of wages throughout a trade. ! 
 
 13. That, disastrous as have been the immediate results of 
 most strikes to masters as well as to men, they have not been 
 without their use to both, by inducing wiser and more gracious 
 concessions on one side, and less unreasonable demands on the ; 
 other. 
 
 14. That minor questions connected with trades, which 
 often produce serious irritation, might be advantageously 
 referred to a mixed tribunal of masters and men ; but that, in 
 the opinion of a majority of the Committee, it would be over- 
 sanguine to hope for a removal of the more direct and serious 
 causes of strife by such arrangement. 
 
 15. That the rate of wages must be settled between the 
 masters and the men, and that the intervention of third parties, 
 unless specially invited by both, and possessing in a very high 
 degree the confidence of both, can be of little avaU. 
 
 16. That the Legislature may do much good service to 
 workmen, by providing an easy and cheap remedy, both in law 
 and equity, to meet the case of disputes between trades' societies 
 and the members, especially in respect to the application of 
 benefit funds. 
 
 17. That the slightest return to the old policy of prohibiting 
 combinations would be most mischievous, and that no legis- 
 lative measures for preventing strikes and lock-outs would be 
 effectual. / 
 
 18. That combinations of masters and of men have always 
 tended to become tyrannical when their rules, discussions, and 
 modes of action have been kept secret ; and that willingness to 
 expose them to the public is the best pledge they can give that 
 they are not engaged in plots which are dangerous to the 
 public. 
 
 19. That the improved education of masters and of men. 
 
XX Report. 
 
 there is good reason to hope, is doing more to avert collisions 
 between them than any mere arrangements could accomplish, 
 whether voluntary or enforced ; that the experience of the past 
 has convinced many of the employers that not to care for their 
 hands, not to promote their intellectual and moral welfare, not 
 to show sympathy with them and forbearance towards them, is 
 to ruin themselves; and that the employed are learning that 
 without temperance and self-government they must be slavish, 
 that their interests are the same with those of the whole land, 
 that the more they respect their own order, the less they will 
 be at war with every other. 
 
 The Committee will ask leave to sit again another year, 
 pro forma, in order to include any important corrections that 
 may be made in their reports in a supplementary report to the 
 Association next year^ if necessary. Although they have 
 spared no trouble in verifying facts and statements in the 
 most careful way, yet they cannot hope that the reports will be 
 found absolutely free from error. 
 
 Tlie Committee have now done their work, how imperfectly 
 none can so painfully feel as themselves. They have, however, 
 done their best. Though the fruits of two years of labour and 
 thought, may appear to be but meagre ; yet with so wide and 
 so intricate a subject that could perhaps have hardly been 
 avoided. The Committee venture to hope that the way may 
 have been somewhat cleared for special inquiries of a more 
 comjjlete character than it was possible for the present one to 
 have possessed. Could they feel that, in any degree, they had 
 smoothed the way towards the avoidance in future of irritating 
 disputes between employer and employed, then indeed they 
 would feel amply repaid for their labour and anxiety. In con- 
 clusion, they can honestly say, that their sole idea has been to 
 arrive at the truth, and if they have not succeeded, it has cer- 
 tainly not been from the absence of a most earnest wish to do so. 
 
 By order of a Sub-Committee, appointed by the General 
 Committee, this Report was directed to be printed, as on the 
 whole expressing the views of a majority of the General Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 (Signed) J. P. KAY SHUTTLE WORTH, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 The following resolutions are appended as expressing the 
 opinions of a minority of the Sub-Committee : — 
 
 1. That the simplest and universal function of trades' socie- 
 ties is the enabling the workman to maintain himself while 
 casually out of employment, or travelling in search of it. 
 
Report. xxi 
 
 2. That the organization requisite for the exercise of this 
 function enables and induces the labourer to attempt to com- 
 pete with the capitalist for a share in the temporary advantage 
 produced by the increase of demand, or the improvement of 
 methods of production in different trades. , 
 
 3. In pursuing this latter object, trades' societies often 
 create by a strike the want of employment, which it is their 
 first purpose to provide against. 
 
 4. That, nevertheless, the existence of a trade society, how- 
 ever strong, has no necessary connexion with the practice of 
 striking in a trade. 
 
 5. That the temptation to strike is often stimulated by the 
 accumulation of funds in the hands of a strong society, and the 
 legal impediments to its safe and profitable investment. 
 
 6. That what we have called the universal function of trades' 
 societies has the eifect of securing to them the support of 
 large numbers of the most prudent and moderate-minded 
 workmen. 
 
 7. This support is further secured, in most cases, by the com- 
 bination with the purposes of a trade society of those of an 
 ordinary benefit society, and sometimes of other institutions, 
 such as libraries, reading rooms, &c. 
 
 8. This combination of purposes often affords to a majority 
 the means of involving an unwilling minority in strikes, and 
 all the consequences which may flow from them. 
 
 9. The first or universal function of trades' societies might 
 (we think) be safely legalized under the Friendly Societies 
 Acts. 
 
 10. The second function might (we think) be practically 
 superseded by habits of frank communication between masters 
 and workmen on all matters afi^ecting their common interest and 
 mutual relations. 
 
 11. In cases in which masters and workmen are unable or 
 unwilling to arrange matters of dispute, we think the ultimate 
 resort to strikes or lock-outs might be avoided by the esta- 
 blishment of united associations of capitalists and workmen, to 
 the arbitration of which united associations all disputed qvies- 
 tions might be referred. 
 
In accordance with resolutions, passed both by the Council of the 
 Association and by the Committee on Trades' Societies, it is neces- 
 sary to state that the author of each of the following Reports is alone 
 answerable for the facts stated and opinions expressed therein; and 
 that no responsibility in these respects attaches either to the Council 
 or to the Committee. 
 
ACCOUNT OF THE STEIEE 
 
 OP THE ^ 
 
 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE BOOT & SHOE MAKERS 
 
 IN 1857-8-9. 
 
 PEEPARED FOP. 
 
 Kijt National 'EBsociatinn £or tijt ^tomntinn of Social Science, 
 
 AT THE REQUEST OP THE COMMITTEE ON TEADES' SOCIETIES, 
 
 By JOHN BALL. 
 
 The strike of which an account is given in the following pages 
 arose from an attempt to resist the introduction of machinery into 
 the manufacture of boots and shoes. In this craft three processes 
 are involved, called in the trade " closing," " making," and " bind- 
 ing." The first of these consists in sewing together the pieces of lea- 
 ther forming the "legs," "uppers," or "tops" as they are technically 
 called, the second in uniting the uppers to the soles, and the third in 
 needlework, wherein women are chiefly employed. Women also find 
 employment in closing ; especially in the shoe-making branch of the 
 trade. 
 
 Various attempts had been made to apply the principle of the 
 sewing machine to working in leather, when in the course of the year 
 1857 a machine for "closing" the "uppers" of boots and shoes 
 began to be introduced. No serious resistance seems to have been 
 thought of by the members of the craft established in London, and in 
 the large towns of the north, although some alarm was felt among them 
 lest numbers of those engaged in the "closing and binding" depart- 
 ments should be thrown out of work. A different spirit was shown at 
 Stafford, and at Northampton, and the neighbouring towns, Daventry, 
 Kettering, Towcester and Wellingborough, well known as principal 
 seats of the wholesale manufacture. 
 
 The materials at my disposal enable me to speak only of what 
 passed in Northamptonshire. 
 
 In November, 1857, it became known that the new machine had 
 been brought to Northampton. Alarm and excitement rapidly spread 
 amongst the operatives. An open-air meeting was convened ; it 
 was attended by large numbers who believed, in the language of one 
 of the speakers, that ruin was impending over all branches of the 
 trade ; that many would at once be thrown out of employment, and 
 that the earnings of the remainder would be lowered by their com- 
 
 B 
 
2 Account of the Strike of the 
 
 petition. A second meeting was called a few days later at the Milton 
 Hall in Northampton, at which the resolution was taken which com- 
 mitted the operatives to the struggle now to be related. 
 
 At the first meeting a deputation was appointed to wait upon the 
 j)rincipal employers in Northampton, in order to ascertain their 
 feelings and intentions in regard to the introduction of the new ma- 
 chine. There is no authorized report of what passed at the inter- 
 views which thereupon took place, but it appears that several of the 
 employers declared themselves indisposed to adopt the machine unless 
 forced to do so by the competition of other houses in the trade, and 
 that some of them used expressions which encouraged the men in 
 their hope of successful resistance. 
 
 At the second meeting, held on the 11th of November, resolutions 
 were passed declaring that no work should be " made up" for any em- 
 ployer giving out machine-prepared "tops," and calling on all those 
 who were at the time employed for two shops in which the machine 
 had been introduced to leave off working for those two establishments. 
 Canvassers were appointed to visit the neighbouring towns and villages 
 in order to enlist the general sympathy of the trade, and to obtain 
 contributions for the maintenance of the strike. The greater num- 
 ber of the men engaged in working for the two shops in question 
 joined in the strike, and the same thing occurred in a third shop from 
 which machine-made work was soon after given out ; but a certain 
 number of old hands declined to join in the movement, and a further 
 number of fresh hands were drawn in from the surrounding villages 
 by the offer of increased wages from the shops on strike. 
 
 During the months of December, 1857, and January and February, 
 1858, meetings were held at all the chief places in the county, the 
 feelings of the operatives were strongly, and almost universally, 
 enlisted in the attempt to resist the introduction of machinery, but 
 the money contributions obtained were not considerable. Many of 
 the men on strike found no great difficulty in obtaining work else- 
 where, and the remainder were supported out of the funds collected, 
 so that little or no actual distress was felt at that period. 
 
 Up to the commencement of 1858, no general organization existed 
 among the operatives engaged in the boot and shoe trade in North- 
 amptonshire, neither was there any community of action amongst the 
 employers. Most of the men belonged to benefit clubs, but ti-ades' 
 unions had not been generally established. The more intelligent of 
 those who entered upon the conflict evinced by their speeches the 
 doubts which they felt as to the possibility of ultimate success ; and 
 while dilating, as they constantly did, upon the evils which the intro- 
 duction of machinery was certain to cause, and while exhorting their 
 fellow-operatives to persevere in resisting it, they sometimes referred 
 to the possibility of obtaining by union among the men a share of the 
 profits which, as they assumed, the employers would be sure to reap 
 from the saving made by machinery in the cost of production. 
 
 Whether with a view to some such object, or from the expectation 
 that they could thus more effectually resist the further introduction 
 
Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Makers. 3 
 
 of macliinery, the great object of the leaders of the movement among 
 the operatives was to unite the whole body of those engaged in the 
 trade in the towns and vUlages of Northamptonshire into a compactly 
 organized body, subject to the guidance of a small number of men 
 who should be chosen as the Executive Committee. 
 
 Accordingly, in April, 1858, the Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe 
 Makers' Mutual Protection Society was established for the purpose, 
 as stated in their rules, of preventing the introduction of machinery 
 into the trade, and in order to protect, raise, and equalize wages, as 
 far as possible. Every person engaged in the trade was to be 
 eligible for membership ; each district was to elect its own oflB.cers, 
 make its own bye-laws, and manage its own funds ; the executive, 
 chosen annually by a meeting of delegates from each district, at 
 Northampton, was to have power to act upon information respecting 
 the introduction of machinery, or " any infringement of the rights of 
 labour," by calling district or general meetings, putting any shop or 
 shops upon strike, and subsequently conducting such strike as they 
 should think proper. 
 
 The great majority of the Northamptonshire operatives hastened 
 to enrol themselves as members of the Protection Society ; but in 
 spite of the increased power gained by the leaders of the strike, 
 it was found that the shops which had introduced the machine, 
 and against which their utmost efforts were directed, were not 
 forced to close their doors, and that a number of hands, nearly 
 sufficient for the wants of those establishments, still continued at work, 
 a portion of the machine-made tops being sent to other toivns at a 
 distance to be made up. 
 
 Those who were induced to work at these shops did not, however, 
 do so with impunity. From an early period of the strike they were 
 visited with frequent proof of the feeling existing against them on 
 the part of their fellow-operatives. Crowds, consisting chiefly of 
 boys and young women, used to assemble daily at the hour when they 
 left the obnoxious shops, and their appearance was greeted by groans 
 and offensive epithets, of which the most frequently repeated was 
 that of " scab." In not a few cases personal molestation, by throwing 
 snow-balls and other missiles, was used towards young women and 
 others working at the shops on strike. 
 
 The executive of the Protection Society did not accept the respon- 
 sibility for these proceedings, which did not, so far as the evidence 
 in my possession goes, amount to serious violence, but they published 
 from time to time lists of the names of the men and women at work 
 at these shops, headed by sentences in which the conduct and cha- 
 racter of " scabs " was held up to general execration, and it does not 
 appear that they made any attempt to check the system of intimi- 
 dation which, in the months of April and May, 1858, led to many 
 cases being brought before the local magistrates. 
 
 As the summer of 1858 advanced, increasing difficulty seems to 
 have been felt in obtaining the weekly payments in aid of the strike 
 from the members of the district branches in the smaller towns and 
 
 b2 
 
4 Account of the Strike of the 
 
 villages, and various symptoms of disunion were ali-eady apparent, 
 when an incident occui-red which seems to have had some indirect 
 influence on the suhsequeut history of the strike. 
 
 The general rules of the Protection Society had provided that no 
 member should take any person to instruct in any branch of the trade 
 except he should receive a sufficient remuneration in the shape of a 
 money premium ; the amount of such premium to be settled by the ■ 
 difierent districts. The Kettering Branch of the Society had super- 
 added to this rule a proviso that no one should be allowed to learn 
 the art of shoe-making after he had reached the age of seventeen ; 
 and further, that no shoemaker should at any time have more than 
 two apprentices. Shortly before this regulation was made, a young 
 man named Japheth Plummer, who wished to change the calling of a 
 stay-maker, to which he had been brought up, for that of shoe-making, 
 had found a shoemaker at Kettering who was willing to teach him 
 the trade upon terms mutually fixed between them. The person wha 
 engaged to teach Japheth Plummer being a member of the Society, 
 refused to carry out his agreement after the new regulation was intro- 
 duced among the Kettering operatives, and for some time the latter 
 failed to find any man in the trade willing to instruct him. It was 
 asserted on his behalf, and not denied, that a non-society man who 
 was vsdlling to teach him had been withheld from doing so by threats, 
 and that an employer who was willing to give him work had been 
 deterred by the resolution of his other workmen to strike rather than 
 allow this breach of the rule which they were endeavouring to 
 establish. 
 
 In this state of things, a brother of Japheth Plummer, also an 
 operative in the stay-making trade, was induced to interfere by 
 writing a succession of letters in the local newspapers, wherein the 
 principles and practices of the Shoemakers' Society were unsparingly 
 attacked. The controversy which ensued, carried on by letters bear- 
 ing the signatures " John Plummer " and " Pell Junior," was con- 
 ducted with much ability, especially on the side of Mr. Plummer, who 
 has since become more widely knoivn through various pamjihlets 
 connected with the working of trade societies. 
 
 The effect of the discussion respecting the case of Japheth 
 Plummer seems to have been unfavourable to the Shoemakers' Union. 
 Many of the operative class sympathized with a young man who 
 seemed to them to have been hardly used. Again, the fact that 
 although fi'equently molested and threatened, Japheth Plummer was 
 able to obtain work, and that the Kettering Branch Society ulti- 
 mately withdi'ew their opposition to allowing him to learn the trade, 
 appeared to be a symptom of weakness, and probably contributed to 
 shake the confidence of the operatives in the proceedings of their 
 leaders. 
 
 Meanwhile, in the month of October, 1858, finding that, in spite of 
 the publication of lists, the shops on strike continued to obtain hands, 
 the Executive at Northampton resolved to make a further effort to 
 coerce the recusants into submission. A notice was published de- 
 
Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Makers. 5 
 
 daring that as those who were working for the " machine shojis " 
 seemed determined to i^ersevere in so doing, the delegates of the 
 Mutual Protection Society had resolved that the entire body should 
 engage themselves " not to work for any employer who may either 
 now or at any future time give work to those, or any of those, who 
 TQay continue to work for the shops on strike, after the 16th day of 
 October, 1858." A further resolution was added, that the names of 
 the obnoxious persons should bo printed and sent to every employer 
 in the town and county of Northampton, along with the preceding 
 resolution. 
 
 Shortly after this, a shop in Kettering gave notice of a reduction 
 in the price of making up some description of shoes. This notice 
 immediately led to a strike of the men engaged at that shop, and to 
 an application from the Kettering Branch to the Central Executive in 
 Northampton for assistance towards supporting them. The applica- 
 tion being unsuccessful, the members of the Society in Kettering and 
 the neighbourhood felt dissatisfied, and seceded from the general 
 body, and thereupon the organization throughout the country dis- 
 tricts became materially weakened. 
 
 This state of things continued till the month of February, 1859, 
 when, after previous discussion and concert between the leading 
 houses in the trade at Northampton and Stafford, a notice was pub- 
 lished stating- that in consequence of sewing machines being exten- 
 sively used in other towns, any further delay in introducing them on 
 the part of the Northampton manufacturers would be permanently 
 injurious to trade ; and announcing further, the resolution taken to 
 introduce machine-made tops in twenty of the principal shops in 
 Northampton. Along with this was a notice signed by seventeen 
 large employers in Stafford pledging them not to give employment 
 to any fresh hands in the event of a strike occurring at Northampton 
 in consequence of the last mentioned resolution. 
 
 These proceedings were regarded as a declaration of war by the 
 Executive of the Mutual Protection Society. After an unsuccessful 
 attempt to induce the employers to rescind their resolution, a large 
 meeting of operatives decided on resorting to a general strike of all 
 those employed in shops whereat the machine-made tops should be in- 
 troduced. The men on strike were called upon to go on tramp : i. e. 
 to look for work at a distance from Northampton, and the Executive 
 were empowered to seek assistance from all trades' unions and trade 
 societies in the United Kingdom, to support the wives and children of 
 the men who should depart for this purpose. 
 
 It should be observed, that several of the Northampton firms that 
 joined in the determination to introduce machine-made work, did not 
 themselves use the machine, and some of them have not done so up to 
 the present time. It was found that they could with equal advan- 
 tage purchase the " tops " ready made from establishments where the 
 machine had been already introduced, and have them " made up " at 
 Northampton. The tendency of such a system, if it had become 
 general, would have largely diminished the local field for employment 
 
6 Account of the Strike of the 
 
 in the shoemaking trade, as the work to be done in such shops would 
 be entirely confined to making up and binding. 
 
 From the best information that I have been able to procure, I con- 
 clude that the strike of February, 1859, was, from the outset, a com- 
 parative failure. Including the shops in which the machine had 
 been previously introduced, the contest lay between a body of em- 
 ployers who represented nine-tenths of the ti-ade of the town, and a 
 body of operatives abeady discouraged by the experience of the pre- 
 ceding fifteen months, during which they had fruitlessly maintained 
 a struggle of a more limited kind. A lai-ge portion, probably a 
 majority of the whole body, left their work in the first instance, but 
 of these a considerable proportion returned to their employers within 
 two or three weeks. The whole number who quitted the town to seek 
 work elsewhere maybe estimated at 1,500, of whom many were 
 young single men. They did not find as much sympathy among the 
 men of their own and other trades in the districts where they appeared 
 as they had been led to expect, especially when it was found that 
 either fi-om necessity, or because they had no strong feeling on the 
 subject, men who had struck against machine shops, in their own 
 town, consented to make up machine-prepared work elsewhere. The 
 result was, that most of them returned before long to Northampton, 
 where in many cases they found their places filled up by strangers who 
 had come in from neighbouring places, and much distress necessaiily 
 ensued. 
 
 It is not possible to give any complete account of the sums collected 
 in aid either of the original strike of November, 1857, or of the more 
 extensive one of February, 1859. In the first instance the collection 
 was confined to the members of the craft in the town and county 
 of Northampton, and the proceeds were, in great part, absorbed in 
 meeting the expenses entailed by the sti-ike — printing, payment of 
 pickets appointed to watch the shops on strike, canvassers sent to 
 country districts, and the members of the executive who directed 
 the proceedings. The payment for these services was fixed at the 
 uniform rate of four shillings per day, but additional expenses were 
 allowed while travelling. 
 
 The appeal to the trade societies of the United Kingdom in February 
 and March, 1859, was not generally successful. The most intelligent 
 of the members of those societies in the same trade disapproved of 
 the policy of the movement, deeming it neither desirable nor practi- 
 cable to resist the extension of mechanical improvements, although 
 very sensible of the inconvenience and temporary sufiTering that are 
 sometimes caused by a rapid change in the nature and extent of the 
 employment afforded in any particular trade. In spite of this dis- 
 approval, several trade societies, in London and elsewhere, sent con- 
 tributions of moderate amount, being unwilling to refuse this tangible 
 proof of sympathy with their fellow-craftsmen. 
 
 The fiands collected in the spring of 1859 were, in great part, 
 expended in a payment of nine shillings each to the men who " went 
 on tramp," thus leaving a very small sum available towards the 
 
Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Makers. 7 
 
 support of families of married men who left the town. This circum- 
 stance, along with others previously mentioned, probably contributed 
 to the termination of the strike. 
 
 Attempts made in the spring of 1859 to revive the general organi- 
 zation of the Protection Society throughout the county met with 
 but slight and partial success, and when it was apparent that the 
 resources of the body were nearly exhausted, and its spirit worn out 
 by failure, the strike was finally ended by the employers oiFering, 
 and the men accepting, a slight advance on the price of making 
 machine-prepared " tops." 
 
 For the foregoing narrative, and for an ample collection of mate- 
 rials, in the shape of newspaper reports, printed handbills, and other 
 documents connected with the strike, I am largely indebted to Mr. 
 John Plummer, without whose assistance it could not have been com- 
 piled. Without attempting to discuss any topic that admits of different 
 judgments, I desire to indicate two questions arising out of the facts 
 above detailed, which thoughtful men may well take into considera- 
 tion. 
 
 Through experience and increased instruction, the education of 
 the operative classes in most parts of the United Kingdom is so far \ 
 advanced, that it seems reasonable to expect that attempts to resist 
 mechanical improvements tending to save human labour will hence- 
 forward be more and more unfrequent. Though men may be averse 
 to changes affecting their own trade, and though they may not admit 
 that the ultimate advantage to the world counterbalances the imme- 
 diate inconvenience of the change, they will gradually learn that in 
 deciding to adopt any new machine which economizes the cost of pro- 
 duction, the manufacturer is urged by a compulsion still more impe- 
 rative than that which forces his workmen to submit to its introduction. 
 To them it is a rival, to him a master. They may sometimes succeed 
 in finding employment elsewhere ; the manufacturer must either suit 
 his prices to those of his competitors in the same trade, or else see 
 his business depart. If he lowers his prices without also diminishing 
 the cost of production, he is clearly on the road to ruin. An associ- 
 ation of operatives conducting a manufacture of any description for 
 their own benefit, are forced, just as much as the individual employer 
 in the same business, to adopt any improvement that economizes 
 labour. They must feel, as practical men, that it is useless and 
 unreasonable to ask employers not to conform to what is no less than 
 the simple dictate of necessity. 
 
 It is, however, undeniable that improvements in machinery, when ' 
 rapidly introduced into any branch of trade, sometimes deprive work- 
 men and those depending on them of their daily bread. It commonly 
 happens that a change which lowers the price of an article increases 
 the demand for it, and the labour at first rendered useless is then 
 absorbed in other branches of the same trade. The fact remains, that 
 such changes do at times cause severe distress, though this is seldom 
 prolonged beyond a short interval. 
 
 A question which seems to me to deserve more consideration 
 
8 Account of the Strike of the 
 
 from intelligent operatives than it has yet received, regards the best 
 means for diminishing the inevitable inconyenience and occasional 
 suffering that arise from mechanical inventions vs^hich lessen the 
 demand for labour. Such changes occur without the co-oiDcration of 
 the individual workman, and are usually no less independent of the 
 will of the individual employer. Do they belong to the class of mis- 
 fortunes that each household should endeavour to provide against by 
 individual savings ? Or could they be better met by the collective 
 efforts of those engaged in the same trade, on the same principle on 
 which provision is now made in benefit societies for death, accident, 
 and sickness. 
 
 To the honour of the manufacturing operatives of this country it 
 must be said, that they are very ready to contribute to the relief and 
 assistance of those of their own class who claim their sympathy. 
 Even in cases when they do not thoroughly approve of the objects of 
 a strike, they are unwilling to refuse help. Yet, without attempting 
 to argue how far some strikes have been defensible in principle, or 
 advantageous in their results, there are few who will maintain that 
 strikes against machinery can lessen the suffering of those who might 
 otherwise have felt the change, or deny that they cause mischiefs 
 of other descriptions which ought not lightly to be incurred. If it 
 be possible to meet the shock of these periods of transition so 
 as to ease the pressure upon individuals, without engaging in con- 
 tests which are as hopeless as they are irritating, the whole commu- 
 nity, but especially those who live by their labour, would gain by the 
 cessation of strikes of this description. 
 
 The second question is suggested by a fact to which I have just 
 alluded. It will not be denied that among the manufacturing opera- 
 tives, as among other classes, there are men considerably in advance 
 of the average of their fellow- workmen in intelligence and information. 
 It is a fact eminently satisfactory that such men usually exercise great 
 influence amongst those of their own calling. Like the rest of mankind, 
 they are not always free from bias when their own feelings and interests 
 are concerned, but in regard to matters involving the application of 
 general principles to practical conclusions, their judgment is as sound 
 and clear as that of men of equal natural ability in other walks of life. 
 Through the influence of men of this description, when fortunately 
 they intervene in sufiicient time, many collisions between employers 
 and their men are averted, and strikes prevented that are seen to be 
 unjustifiable or hopeless. But when once a strike has commenced, it 
 very rarely happens that the natural leaders of the class who are 
 engaged in it come forward to express objections to the principles or 
 the policy on which it was based, however opposed to it their real 
 opinions may be. Through a natural sympathy with men of their 
 own order, or from a reluctance to appear in opposition to their fel- 
 lows, men acquiesce in proceedings of which they really disapprove, 
 and contribute their share towards expenditure which they know to 
 be hopelessly unproductive. 
 
 It is easy for such men to extenuate errors which their own Intel- 
 
Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Makers. 9 
 
 ligence makes apparent to them by pointing to the prevalence of 
 similar errors among other classes. They may m'ge vrith perfect 
 truth that mistaken ideas of social economy, quite as indefensible in 
 theory as those which have led to strikes against machinery, have 
 at various times prevailed amongst the educated classes, and that 
 it is unreasonable to feel surprise that errors, which a few years 
 ago were nearly universal, should stiU. prevail amongst the less 
 educated part of the community ; but such a state of things only 
 makes it the more imperative on those who are more enlightened to 
 oppose the errors prevailing amongst their own class. The several 
 advances in social and legislative improvement that have made this 
 country what it is, have been gained by the efforts of men who did 
 not shrink from setting themselves against the prejudices and feelings 
 of those who surrounded them ; and if we are to hold our position 
 amongst the foremost nations of the earth, it must be through the 
 united efforts of all to combat whatever of error and ignorance still 
 hold sway in our social system. 
 
 To contribute money towards a strike that is certain to fail, be- 
 cause founded on erroneous principles, merely helps to prolong a state 
 of general suffering and ill-feeling. It is an act of weakness, cer- 
 tainly not of real kindness. There are quite enough of men among 
 the operative classes who are competent to discern the occasions 
 when strikes are indefensible. These men are equally well able to 
 answer the question which I venture to address to them — whether it 
 does not behove them to use whatever influence they possess for 
 withholding the men of their own order from fruitless struggles against 
 the fixed laws which regulate human society. 
 
ACCOUNT 
 
 OF 
 
 THE WEST YORKSHIRE 
 
 COAL-STEIKE AND LOOK-OUT 
 
 OF 1858. 
 
 PBEPAEED FOE 
 
 STfjj WattDtml assodatinn &r Hje i^rotnation at Social Science, 
 
 AT THE BEQUEST OF THE COTDIITTEE OH TRADES' SOCIETIES, 
 
 By J. M. LUDLOW, 
 
 BAKBISTEE-AT-LAW. 
 
 [In laying this report before the Committee, I beg leave to say, that 
 it has been communicated, in MS., to Mr. John Holmes on behalf of 
 the men, to Mr. W. E. Forster, as one of those who attempted to 
 mediate between masters and men, and to Messrs. Briggs, coal-owners ; 
 and in proof, to Messrs. Briggs again (who went through it with me 
 in a conference of several hours' duration), and to Mr. Shaw, Miners' 
 Delegate for West Yorkshire, and that every fact, figure, and explana- 
 tion has been inserted which any of the persons consulted deemed 
 important. — J. M. L.] 
 
 The West Yorkshire coal-strike of 1858 is remarkable in several 
 respects, — as offering an instance of a class which, with the multipli- 
 cation of trade-societies, is becoming ever rarer and rarer, viz. that of 
 a strike itself originating a trade society, — as having been preceded 
 for many years by the formation of an employers' association, and 
 occasioned by its proceedings, — as exhibiting in a marked degree the 
 natural tendency of trade societies, when either defeated or strenu- 
 ously resisted, to enlarge the sphere of their operations ; — ^finally, 
 as ending in what is admitted to be, even by those least disposed to 
 exaggerate the result, a partial triumph for the men, who submitted 
 to only half the reduction of wages which their employers sought to 
 impose upon them, and retained their Association, which their em- 
 ployers sought to crush, and who have indeed, since then, Mr. Holmes 
 states in his paper in the last volume of the Society's Transactions, 
 which I am about to refer to, regained the whole of the reduction. 
 
 Two histories of the strike are already before the public ; one, 
 that by Mr. John Holmes, in the "Transactions" for 1859, p. 640 ; 
 the other by Mr. Tremenheere, in his report for 1859 as Commissioner 
 under the 5 & 6 Vic. c. 99, p. 39. Either of these, it might have been 
 thought, would have rendered the present paper superfluous. But 
 
12 Account of the 
 
 Mr. Holmes, from his position in connexion -with the men's associa- 
 tion, has not had access to documents on the masters' side, of which 
 I have had the advantage ; Mr. Tremenheere, on the other hand, obtain- 
 ing information on some points apparently from the masters alone, 
 has been, as he himself admits in a letter which I have received from 
 him, misled as to one of his leading statements. 
 
 The story had therefore still to be told ; and I should add, that I 
 have not found it isossible, without impairing its value, to sever it 
 from that of both the Associations above referred to ; nor can it be 
 well understood by those not connected with the colliery districts, 
 without a few preliminary observations as to the nature of the em- 
 ployment on which those associations are formed to operate. 
 
 I. Coal-mining in West Yorlishire and its Characteristics, as 
 respects Employers and Employed. 
 
 " The occupation of a collier," it is stated by an employer Avho has 
 shown much disposition to further the objects of the Committee, and 
 whose " Remarks on the Cause, Operation, and Effects of the Colliers' 
 Strike in West Yorkshire in 1858" (MS. supplied to the Committee) 
 I shall endeavour to embody, as far as possible, entirely in this paper, 
 supplementing them from other sources, "cannot strictly be considered 
 a skilled one, no apprenticeship being needed." "Part of the men," he 
 states again in his evidence before our Liverpool Sub-Committee, 
 "are paid by the piece, and part by daywork. The 'top hands,' 
 that is, those who work on the surface, are paid by the day, and the 
 ' bottom hands,' that is, those who work underground, are chiefly (to 
 the extent of about seven-eighths of the whole) paid by the piece. . . . 
 We have what are- called ' bywork men,' who are paid by the day . . . 
 they are employed in removing rubbish, laying roads, removing props, 
 and any other underground work except cutting coal. These bywork 
 men generally work by night. The men find their own candles, which 
 cost about Qd. a week" (Mr. Holmes states that these have to be 
 bought of the steward, and paid for 2d. per pound above the market 
 price) ;* " when they use safety lamps we find the oil. I should mention 
 that we find them their coal for domestic use ; but they have to find car- 
 riage for it to their houses themselves. This allowance is equivalent to 
 the finding of their own candles." The " top hands," the Employer 
 tells us, " are not colliers, but mere labourers, except the banksman, 
 who must be an honest man, and we pay him higher wages accord- 
 ingly." "The colliers employ boys under them ... called 'hurriers,' 
 to push the scoops ; these boys Avhen taken from the poor-house, as they 
 
 * The Truck Act (1 & 2 W. IV. c. 37), it may loe observed, specifically excepts 
 from its proMbitions (s. 23) stoppages or deductions from wages on account of 
 rent of tenements occupied, medicine or medical attendance, materials, tools or 
 implements supplied to the workmen (the exception as to materials, tools or im- 
 plements being confined to miners), hay, corn, or provender for beasts of bm-then 
 employed by the workman in his trade, or victuals dressed and prepared under 
 the roof of the employer. 
 
 The policy of some at least of these exceptions is open to great doubt, and it is 
 easy to see how they may be pei-verted into direct violations of the spirit of the 
 Act. The power of stopping rent out of wages, in particular, gives to the employer 
 
TVest Yorkshire Coal-Strike and Lock-out. 
 
 13 
 
 often are, are apprenticed to the men who employ them ;" in some col- 
 lieries, to the masters. There is otherwise no system of apprenticeship. 
 "Hurrying," it should be thus understood, is, as a rule, paid for by the 
 men, and constitutes, in addition to "candles," as will be seen from the 
 men's " Plain Statement," and with 1 d. for "wage-paying," which I trust 
 is not a general charge, a deduction from their gross earnings. Indeed, 
 the statements of masters and men are, on the subject of these deduc- 
 tions, not altogether reconcilable. Thus, I have been informed by a 
 miner who has worked for the very employer I quote from, that 
 candles used to cost him Sd.a. week, and not 6d., and that he has known 
 powder and fuse cost as much as 6s. a week, which, however, the 
 Employer suggests would probably be when sinking a shaft ; whilst 
 another miner, referring however rather to the South Yorkshire 
 coal-field, to which indeed the strike (as will be seen hereafter) actu- 
 ally extended, has declared that candles, powder, fuse, sharpening 
 shafts, cost certainly not less than from 6d. to 9d. a day.* It is cer- 
 tain indeed that these deductions vary from district to district, more 
 or less from mine to mine ; and we may fairly presume, on the one 
 hand that the Employer, our informant, from his very frankness in 
 coming forward, must be one of the more liberal of his class, — on the 
 other, that every employer has a natural tendency to state earnings at 
 their maximum, and deductions at their minimum, as every workman 
 has to reduce the figure of earnings and maximize that of deductions. 
 On one point, however, I feel satisfied that the Employer's state- 
 ment is open to a serious correction. The occupation of a collier is 
 not " strictly" a "skilled one," in this sense only, that the physical 
 labour required for it may be performed by any man with sufficient 
 thews and sinews to carry it on. But among the colliers themselves, 
 I am informed, so great is the value of a peculiar training and apti- 
 tude, that there are distinct classes of " thick-bed men" and " thin- 
 bed men," of whom the " thick -bed men" cannot gain a living at the 
 work of the " thin-bed men," while surpassing the latter in their own 
 field of employment. And beyond the physical labour, there is required 
 
 * I have had a number of pay -tickets placed in my hands, entirely confirming 
 these statements, and showing that the Employer's estimate, if correct for his 
 own portion of West Yorkshire, would not in any way represent the state of 
 the case in other coal districts. Take for instance the following copy of a South 
 Yorkshire pay-ticket : 
 
 Colliery. 
 
 « (Name of Workman) 
 
 
 Dale. 
 
 
 ' 
 
 June 17th, 
 
 1858. 
 
 
 £, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 n 
 
 s. 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 G 
 2 
 
 
 
 If! 
 
 d. 
 4 
 
 6 
 8 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 Dozens. 
 
 Corves. 
 
 Yards. 
 
 Eate. 
 
 & 
 
 3 
 
 
 s. 
 
 9 
 
 16 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 L 
 
 rotal 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 nnflnct. . 
 
 
 
 n 
 
 
 
 
 
 •>. 
 
 IR 
 
 11 
 
 
 "Set 
 
 tlem 
 
 mt in 
 
 fun of all 
 
 demands 
 
 ." 
 
 
 
 
 
1 4 Account of the 
 
 a familiarity witli tlic peculiar dangers of the occupation, and a cau- 
 tion in guarding against them, which nothing but long experience 
 can supply. The testimony of the men on this is so unanimous, their 
 reasoning so perspicuously satisfactory, that it has been impossible 
 for me to withhold my assent from it. The skilful miner, they say, 
 prepares the work for the unskilled one ; to use their own terms, 
 after the skilful miner has " driven the straightwork," the unskilled 
 one may do the "widework." But if put to the former labour, know- 
 ing nothing of the danger of naked lights and accumulations of gas, 
 the latter class are the cause of numerous accidents ; and I am in- 
 formed, moreover, that the labour of the mine, when undertaken^ in 
 after life, is found so unpleasant, that " top hands" sent down during 
 a strike, generally leave the pit as soon as possible, though their 
 average wages above ground are but 18s. a week; and so wearing, that 
 those who remain of the men thus introduced do not live half the 
 time of the ordinary miner, short as we shall see presently that this is. 
 For indeed, it is admitted by the employer whom I have quoted, and 
 largely insisted on by the men, and almost any newspaper we take 
 up may convince us, that the collier "is subject, in his calling, to 
 extra risk of life and limb." So great is this risk, that, according 
 to a Parliamentary paper referred to by Mr. Richard Bayldon, of 
 Methley, in one of his pamphlets, the loss of life among the coal- 
 miners of England, numbering 230,000, by accident connected with 
 their employment, was 7,081 in the seven years from 1851 to 1857, 
 both inclusive, making over 1,000 a year, or 1 to every 230 men 
 employed ; whilst the number of injuries inflicted short of death, of 
 which no record is kept, must be something enormous. Indeed, Mr. 
 Holmes quotes the Registrar-G-eneral to the eifect that " more than 
 one-third of the miners meet with violent deaths ;" but this would 
 seem irreconcilable with the previous figures. The proportion of 
 sickness, it further appears from the authorities quoted by Mr. 
 Holmes, from 20 to 60, is more than 67 per cent, above the average, 
 and the value of the miner's life is 27"7 years, as against 42'3 for 
 the agricultural labourer. 
 
 Accordingly, it is further admitted by the Employer above referred 
 to, as well as by independent authorities,* and is equally insisted on 
 by the men, that the working collier, in consideration of such extra 
 risks, is "entitled to a higher remuneration" than "the superior 
 labourer in farming operations," which remuneration, in the Employer's 
 view, " may fairly be covered by fifty per cent." upon the rate of 
 wages received by the latter. It does not of course follow that the 
 men would accept this basis of calculation. 
 
 Let us now look at coal-mining as respects the employer. "Per- 
 haps there are no occupations " (says the Employer before quoted) 
 " that employ more capital than collieries, in proportion to the capa- 
 bilities of production, as it seldom happens that a master can turn 
 
 * See the Rev. Mr. Bowditch's Lecture on " The West Yorkshire Coal-Strikes," 
 ■wMcli Is anything but favourable to the men. 
 
West Yorkshire Coal-Strike and Lock-out. 15 
 
 over his capital employed more than once in twelve months, so great, 
 generally, is the outlay before any return can be obtained ; and when 
 in full operation, the weekly wages (payable all in cash) amount to at 
 least 50 per cent, of the cost of production. The risks also, in col- 
 liery operations, are particularly great ; indeed, on this head it has 
 become a trite saying, that commencing a coUiery will turn out either 
 a ' poor-house or a coach.' It is a notorious fact, that a very great many 
 collieries have ruined the original projectors, by absorbing much more 
 capital than was anticipated ; and that other parties have afterwards 
 purchased the plant and goodwill for one-fourth or one-third of their 
 cost, and then the undertaking has adequately remunerated the pur- 
 chaser, by its being burdened with a proportional less annual charge for 
 interest and restoration of capital, equal in fact to a fair profit. Indeed, 
 it is a matter of doubt whether the working of coal throughout the whole 
 of the colliery distrfcts has paid more than five per cent, upon the ori- 
 ginal outlay." And " it so happens, that in coUiery operations little 
 or no saving can be effected, except in the wages, as almost all the 
 other expenses are fixed and stationary, and any attempt at saving 
 in ropes, wood, iron, and other articles of consumption, would be false 
 economy." 
 
 It would obviously be important to obtain a closer estimate of the 
 conditions under which the coal-mining business is carried on. Some 
 data to this effect are supplied to us by the " Employer." " Our 
 hewers' wages," he states, " are 2s. lOd. per dozen corves, weighing 
 55*4 cwt., equal to about 12'3d. per ton, without hurrying or tram- 
 ming ; and our total wages — colliers, and other hands — are averaging 
 2s. Z\d. per ton, besides a charge for clerks, agency, and management. 
 Our rent, or payment for royalty, is about 6Jrf. per ton ; and other 
 expenses, such as cost of timber for props and other purposes, iron, 
 ropes, oil, bricks, lime, rates, taxes, interest and restoration of capital, 
 and other disbursements, amount to about Is. 5d. per ton, making a 
 total cost of about As. Zd. per ton. . . . These figures can be proved 
 from our books. . . . We pay the same wages for the total tons drawn, 
 and not so much for best coal, so much for seconds, and so much 
 for slack. We are now selling slack (or small coal) at Is. Qd. per 
 ton; and yet it costs us, in wages alone, 2s. 3|rf. per ton! so that of 
 course we have to make up that loss in the superior price of the two 
 other sorts."* 
 
 * In confirmation of the above figures, I am obligingly supplied by the same 
 gentleman with the following statement of wages paid at his colliery, for the 
 quarter ending March 31st, 1860, taken from his books : 
 
 "Hewing wages = 13'l<f. per ton. 
 
 Hurrying and straightwork = 6-6 „ „ 
 
 Bywork = 3-7 „ „ 
 
 Top or surface wages = 5'6 „ „ 
 
 Total average of wages paid from January lat, 
 
 1860, to March 3lBt, 1860 = 29«?., or 2^. W. per ton." 
 
 Being, in fact, IJi. per ton more than above stated. 
 
16 Account of the 
 
 These figures, it will be observed, supposing them to be average as 
 to cost, would give the following net profit : 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 at 4iS. Id. per ton, selling price before 1853 7"27 
 
 at 6*. Sd. „ „ highest price before 1853 (which 
 
 lasted only a few months) 36'25 
 
 at As. 9d. „ „ price at time of attempted reduction 10-53 
 — the above prices being those quoted by the Employer, and which, it 
 will be seen hereafter, differ from those of the men. The mean of 
 the three percentages, supposing the periods equal, would thus give 
 £18 per cent, of net profit. 
 
 It is right to point out that the above data are quite irreconcilable 
 with the statements of the men, who indeed have far less means of judg- 
 ing as to most of them. The " General Secretary" to the Miners' As- 
 sociation reckons the cost in the West Yorkshire district at less than 
 Ss. per ton ; whilst about 2s. 9d. is the figure named to me by an in- 
 telligent miner, who has worked for our Employer himself. Is. Id. 
 per ton is denied to be an average of hewers' wages ; and it is de- 
 clared that the price paid for getting " slack " is almost, if not quite, 
 universally very far below that of the other sorts. In endeavouring to 
 probe these discrepancies to the bottom, I have ascertained that their 
 main source lies in the different statements of masters and men as to 
 weights. Thus, whilst the Employer states that he reckons the ton 
 of coals at twenty-one cwt. both for sale and for wages, his men assert 
 that he reckons it for wages at twenty-five cwt., filling five corves 
 to the ton, and each corf containing five cwt., so that the dozen corves 
 would make sixty cwt., and not fifty-five as he rejjresents (fifty 
 was the figure stated at first). This is a point which nothing but 
 the weighing clauses of the new Mines Inspection Bill (since muti- 
 lated by the House of Lords) could have cleared up. Indeed, the men 
 declare universally that the corves have grown, to use the words of 
 one of them, " as an oak-tree out of a sapling ;" whilst the Employer 
 distinctly asserts that his corves have not changed for the last twenty 
 years. As respects slack, the discrepancy seems to be solved in 
 this manner : a certain portion of slack always finds its way up with 
 the coal, when it is screened out, and for this no doubt the miner is 
 paid as for best ; but there is a large amount of slack which he has 
 to riddle out at the bottom of the pit, and for which, when it is brought 
 up, he is paid at a most trifling rate. But this, the Employer tells 
 me, does not apply to his own and many other pits, where the coal 
 is sent up unriddled ; and. wages are higher when it is otherwise. 
 
 In the South Yorkshire district a higher profit is, I believe con- 
 fessedly obtained. A handbill circulated by the men during the 
 strike in reference to the Barnsley District, and quoting a paper read 
 by Mr. Rich before " the Statistical Society," — apparently a local one 
 — reckons the wages at half of the cost of production, and the cost of 
 production at half of the price, giving a profit of fifty per cent. A 
 more detailed statement, which has been supplied to me by the men, 
 gives the following as the cost of coal getting in a particular colliery 
 
JVest Yorkshire Coal- Strike and Lock-out. 17 
 
 of the Barnsley bed (which is nine feet thick) at the date of May 2, 
 
 1860. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Hewing 1 per ton. 
 
 Straightwork 1 „ „ 
 
 Daywork 3 „ „ 
 
 Wear and tear, and restitution fund 3 „ „ 
 
 Royalty 7 „ „ 
 
 Total cost 2 2 
 
 A similar table for the Silkstone bed gives 3s. 2d. total cost. 
 
 I do not, of course, in the least vouch for these figures, either as 
 correct or complete, though fully persuaded that they are meant to be 
 both. They are, like those for West Yorkshire, entirely repudiated 
 by the masters. Some of the data, it is obvious, are not within the 
 cognizance of the men, and can only be supplied by them at second 
 hand ; thej are such as they no doubt will be found most apt to under- 
 state ; but they are equally those which the employer has the greatest 
 temptation, even without intending it, to overstate. As respects 
 however all data actually within their own cognizance, I believe a truer 
 average estimate will be supplied by the men than by the masters ; and 
 I say this, without in the least wishing to cast a slur on the veracity 
 of the latter. The master practically knows little more than the 
 working of his own pit or pits, to which he is mostly tied for life ; 
 the men, on the contrary, shifting from pit to pit, sometimes even 
 from district to district, have a much wider field of experience. 
 Whilst, I repeat it, in the coal trade, as in every other, the best 
 masters will almost invariably be those who come forward to give 
 evidence, as having least to conceal ; so that a master's statement, 
 however scrupulously correct as against himself, always necessarily 
 represents the truth under its most favourable, never under its average 
 aspect as towards the working men. 
 
 Something at any rate, it must be recollected, is required to explain 
 the latter half of the popular saying quoted by the Employer, that 
 " a colliery will turn out either a poor-house or a coach."* The con- 
 clusion to be come to, indeed, is, I suspect, precisely that which the 
 saying indicates, namely, that, with a brisk demand, a good colliery 
 at full work is a most remunerative business. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the conflicting interests of capital and 
 labour can hardly be brought out in sharper contrast than in the in- 
 stance under view. The coal-owner carries on a speculative^ hazard- 
 ous trade, ever fluctuating, because the large profits made in it, 
 
 * The " poor-house " half is indeed entirely denied as to the "West Yorkshire 
 district by one who knows it well. Throughout "West Yorkshire the coal -owners 
 are reported to be all of them wealthy men, who have made their own fortunes. 
 The prices said to have been paid for collieries are however often greatly exagge- 
 rated. Thus, an employer has told me he paid £26,000 for a colliery, for which 
 he is reported to have paid £90,000 during the present year. 
 
 C 
 
18 Account of the 
 
 when it is profitable, always tend to overstock it, and in which, when 
 overstocked, the sole margin left by competition, not for profit alone, 
 but for prudence, must be taken out of the remuneration of labour. 
 The coal-miner works at a perilous employment, in which every acci- 
 dent, such as those which we have seen saddening our news-sheets 
 of late years with increasing frequency, seems to call upon him to 
 take every opportunity of increasing his remuneration, or diminishing 
 Iiis risk; if he be reckless, whispering " a short life and a merry;" if 
 he be prudent, reminding him of the needs of wife and family, 
 should death or incapacity overtake him. We have now to see how 
 these conflicting interests festered, till at last they broke out into 
 open hostility. 
 
 II. The West Yorkshire Coal-trade till the Strike o/1858 — The 
 Masters'' Associations — The 4«. Limitation of Earnings. 
 
 "The coal-trade," Mr. Holmes says, "seems to be particularly sub- 
 ject to contentions between masters and men." A " severe and almost 
 general strike" for an advance of wages had however, he tells us, 
 "ended in 1844 against the men;" and from 1844-5 to 1853, it is stated 
 by him and by the men,* and not, so far as I am aware, denied by the 
 employers, " the coal-trade was nearly uniform in both price of coal 
 and scale of wages." The colliers' wages in West Yorkshire, we are 
 told by the Employer before referred to (whom I shall henceforth 
 designate emphatically by that name), " by the piece or contract were 
 such, that with nine hours' employment, a medium workman could earn 
 4«." Mr. Holmes, it will be found, is at variance with him on this 
 point, declaring that as far as he can learn, wages did not average 
 more than Zs. 6d. for ten hours' work. In January, 1853, coal began 
 to rise in price, — the men say, "from, at the pit's mouth, wholesale, 5s. 
 per ton, up to 8s. 9d. in January, 1854," — the Employer says, speaking 
 "from personal experience in reference to the Whitwood Colliery, near 
 Normanton," from "an average of is. 7d. per ton to an average of 
 6s. 8d. at the pit." The discrepancy between the two sets of figures 
 is, it is said, in part explained by those of the men referring to "best" 
 coals, those of the Employer to the " average " of all. But even thus, 
 the Employer's figures would vary from those published by a " West 
 Yorkshire Coal-Owner," to prove the falsity of the men's statements, 
 and which would give as the average before the rise, in January, 1850, 
 4s. 3^d. — as the average of January, 1853, immediately after, 4s. 8|c?. 
 — as the average on January 9, 1854, when coal was highest, 6s. Ifrf.; 
 this table, though impugned in several respects by the men, agreeing 
 with theirs in fixing 8s. 9c?. as the price of best coal in January, 
 1854."!" ,It is now indeed alleged by the employers, that of the two 
 
 * A Plain Statement of the Origin, Cause and Results of the Colliers' Strikes and 
 Lock-out in the Leeds and Wakefield Districts, made at a puljlic meeting at the 
 Court-house, Leeds, on Thursday, November 11th, 1858. (Leeds: David Green.) 
 
 T See "Plain Statement," p. 13. The average of Qs. l^d. for January, 1854, derived 
 from the West Yorkshire Coal-Owner's table, should, however, be raised to 6s. 3 Jrf. — 
 the absence of any quotation for " seconds " arising from this, that owing to the 
 demand, " seconds," as I am informed, were sold for " firsts." 
 
West Yorkshire Coal- Strike and Lock-out, 19 
 
 tables given in the " Plain Statement," that related by the men applies 
 to Leeds prices, that of the " West Yorkshire Coal-Owner " to Wakefield 
 ones. But not only is this distinctly denied by the compiler of the 
 men's table, who af&rms that the prices are those at the pit's mouth, care - 
 fully taken from the invoice of the largest Leeds dealer, and which, 
 as it happens, run about half-way between those of Leeds and Wake- 
 field, but this statement is confirmed by a letter addressed to him by 
 the dealer in question, which I give in a note.* The average price 
 in 1850 would then be, according to his figures, 3s. 6d. instead of 
 4«. 'Id. Thus, according to the Employer, the rise in the average price 
 of coals, from 1850 to 1854, would be at least 45 per cent, j ac- 
 cording to the coal-dealer, more than 90 per cent. Whom are we to 
 believe ? Both, I take it, on the supposition that in fact different 
 prices were paid at different collieries, and by diiferent dealers.! 
 But the true average must lie between the two. If we take the mean, 
 or 62 J per cent., I do not think we shall be doing injustice to the 
 employers. It is no doubt true, indeed, that the high prices could 
 not be kept up for more than a few months. 
 
 " In consequence of the great advance in the price of coal in 1853," 
 says the Employer, "the masters made three advances in their opera- 
 tives' wages, amounting altogether to 30 per cent, upon the former rate, 
 thus enabling the coUier to earn 5s. 4rf. with the same labour and in the 
 same time as before." These advances, although given voluntarily by 
 some masters (the " Employer " among the number), were not so in 
 all cases. " I believe," he says in his evidence before the Liverpool 
 local Committee, "several masters did not make this advance volun- 
 tarily, but were forced to do it." With respect to some, he believes 
 " there was a turn-out, or threat of turn-out, to obtain the advance." 
 
 It follows from these statements of the Employer, that while prices 
 rose, according to himself, 45 per cent., or according to what I venture 
 to consider a truer estimate, 62J per cent., wages rose 30 per cent, 
 only; the masters in any case, so far as appears, retaining the whole 
 
 * " Allerton Main Coal Whakf, Leeds, 
 
 " May Ibth, 1860. 
 " Deab Sik, 
 
 " On your referring me to the first column of tlie price list of the 'Plain 
 Statement,' I beg to assure you that these were the prices I paid for coals at the 
 pits during 1848, 1849, and 1850. 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 " (Signed) K. M. Carter. 
 
 " John Holmes, Esq." 
 
 The figures in question are as follows : — 
 
 PEE TON. 
 
 s. d. 
 Best Lofthouse (1850) ... 5 — 
 AUerton Main „ ... 4 ' 6 — 
 
 f I would indeed point out that whilst the Employer's " average" is based not 
 only upon piice, but upon the relative production of the different sorts of coal, 
 the others are based on price alone. The result however is, I believe, substantially 
 the same. 
 
 C 2 
 
 
 PEE TON. 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Seconds . . 
 
 ..36 
 
 Slack . . . 
 
 ..10 
 
20 Account of the 
 
 increase of profit on so much of the cost of production as does not 
 consist of wages. 
 
 The masters had moreover a machinery at command, towards re- 
 taining to themselves, as against the public, the benefit of the advance 
 of price, which is somewhat charily dealt with by them in their appeals 
 to the public, viz. an association amongst themselves, as the "Employer" 
 states, "for the regulation of prices, weights, and other matters con- 
 nected with the trade," or, as he says in his evidence, "to take 
 cognizance of prices, weights, and legislative enactments affecting 
 collieries, and rules and regulations as to the working of coal-mines." 
 The formation of this association is assigned by Mr. Holmes to the 
 year 1853; Mr. Briggs, however, in the course of the discussion at 
 Bradford, stated that, " it has existed for the last thirty years." I am 
 sorry to say that the principle of secrecy so often cast into the teeth 
 of the men's trade societies, appears eminently characteristic of this 
 ti-ade society of coal-owners. Although so long in existence, it is 
 alleged to be "hardly in a state of formation;" to have "no rules 
 nor regular subscriptions;" and I have vainly solicited copies of its 
 minutes, even as respecting its most important i^roceedings. In ad- 
 dition, moreover, to this " General Association," as it is termed by 
 the " Employer" (but which indeed seems now almost broken up), it 
 would seem that the masters of particular districts (Barnsley, Wake- 
 field and Leeds, and Gildersome) are in the habit of meeting for 
 similar purposes to those of the general body, but act quite inde- 
 pendently, and do not always show the same abstinence from publicity, 
 as will be seen farther on. 
 
 Nor should we forget, in estimating the powers of collective action 
 amongst the masters, the existence of the " Mining Association of 
 Great Britain," a meeting of which Mr. Tremenheere in his report 
 states himself to have attended. Although instituted for purposes of 
 a scientific and social character, it is impossible to overlook the ojjpor- 
 tunities which it must afford the coal-owners, by simply brino-ino- 
 them together from all parts of the kingdom, for preparing and con^ 
 certing their measures towards the men. I do not of course mean to 
 imply that the subject of wages ever formed part of the deliberations- 
 of the body; but the belief has certainly been expressed to me by 
 the men, that the 15 per cent, reduction of wages which led to the 
 strike of 1858 was in fact resolved upon by their masters on the 
 occasion of the meeting of the "Mining Association" for 1855. 
 
 Masters and men, however, employed very differently their respec- 
 tive shares of the enhanced price. " The higher prices of coal," to 
 quote always from the " Employer," " not only stimulated the masters 
 to extend their works, where practicable, but induced many other 
 parties to commence new collieries, in the hope of securino- the then 
 highly remunerative sales." The masters were thus engaged,^on the one 
 hand in increasing the supply by extension of their works, on the 
 other in keeping up prices by means of their union. The men, on the 
 contrary, without being as yet banded in any formal association took 
 a directly opposite course. The advance of wages " had the effect of 
 
West Yorkshire Coal- Strike and Lock-out 21 
 
 inducing the men to work shorter hours, and so to earn very little, 
 if any more ; consequently requiring a greater number of hands to 
 produce the same quantity of coal." 
 
 " The number of operatives required was thus greatly increased ; and 
 not only youths of seventeen to twenty years of age became colliers on 
 their own account (who had previously been only hurriers, or trammers 
 and assistants), but also many common labourers were converted into 
 colliers, particularly/ in the thick seams, and hence the production 
 not only overtook the consumption, but the capabilities of production 
 greatly exceeded it." I may here observe, that I find no statement 
 anywhere that the new hands thus called in by the mere extension of 
 the demand for labour were in anywise molested by the colliers, or 
 indeed that any jealousy was shown towards the new-comers so long 
 as there was full employment for all. It is only from the period of the 
 strike consequent on the fall in prices that misbehaviour towards the 
 new hands on the part of the old ones is mentioned. 
 
 This limitation of earnings by the men, which indeed was only 
 generally practised from the time of the strike, and was then (1858) 
 embodied in one of the early rules of the Miners' Association, is evi- 
 dently a sore subject with the masters. " There are," says the Em- 
 ployer in his evidence, " some objectionable rules in the Colliers' 
 Union, one of which is, that when a man has earned 4«. a day he 
 shall come out of the pit. I have known men come out of the pit at 
 eleven o'clock in the morning, having gone in at six." And he states, 
 in answer to some queries put to him, that the lock-out resolutions 
 after referred to were especially directed against the restrictive prin- 
 ciple adopted by the men. 
 
 Now if the collier's work is as nearly an unskilled one as is repre- 
 sented by the masters ; if men " can learn the work of a collier in a 
 few weeks," as stated by Mr. Tremenheere in his report,— a statement 
 corroborated by the Employer in his evidence, where he says of the 
 " top men" and " common labourers" whom his firm actually sent 
 into the pit during the strike of 1858, " in a very few weeks these 
 unskilled men would have become skilled," — it is difficult to see what 
 great inconvenience was caused to the masters, at this period at least, 
 by the limitation of earnings. No doubt what the Employer says is 
 true : " We had much rather employ the regular collier, if he could 
 behave properly, than put any other man in his place ;" since, whilst 
 acquiring the requisite skill, the unskilled man must, and, the Em- 
 ployer admits, does, cost more to the master than the skilled one. 
 The very process of importing labour is expensive ; and where more 
 men have to be employed, " more tools, more scoops, more straight- 
 work, more rails," are also required, thus enhancing the cost to the 
 employer. But it is observable that the Employer's argument against 
 the limitation has reference to existing low prices, and is based upon 
 the supposition, which he attributes to the men, that the limitation 
 of earnings actually limits production. The men " forget," he says, 
 " or do not take into account, the fact, that the less business a master 
 does, the more his coal is costing. ... As an illustration, — Suppose 
 
22 Account of the 
 
 we take a colliery capable of producing 1,000 tons per week, the fixed 
 expenses of that colliery will be at least £50 per week, that is, ex- 
 penses that do not vary, whether 1,000 tons or 500 tons are worked. 
 Now, when at full work, the cost on that head is Is. per ton ; but 
 if, through the awkwardness of colliers, bad trade, or other causes, 
 the production should fall off to 500 tons per week, the cost then is 
 double, or 2s. per ton." It is obvious that, if " a very few weeks" mea- 
 sure the whole margin of difference between skilled and unskilled 
 labour in collieries, such reasoning is in great measure beside the ques- 
 tion as respects periods of brisk demand. The miner's limitation of 
 his earnings in 1853-4 could only, one would think, have checked 
 production to a very small degree ; the effect of his abstinence from 
 labour was mainly this, that the labourer's share of any advance in 
 price, instead of being monopolized by the existing class of workers 
 in mines, was distributed amongst a much larger number of hands ; 
 tending thus to deplete the workhouse, and to raise generally the 
 price of unskilled labour, and the comforts of the labourer. For 
 the entirely voluntary nature of the limitation, unenforced as it was 
 at this time by any regular organization, shows clearly, as it seems 
 to me, that the 24s. per week which it fixed as a maximum repre- 
 sented the miner's rough standard of comfort, — enough food, enough 
 drink, enough shelter, enough clothing, enough amusement.* As 
 many new hands as the limitation thus called into employ, so many 
 customers did it gain for all articles of primary necessity, to the 
 farmer, the builder, the manufacturer, the demand for whose produce 
 would otherwise in many cases have been limited to the low cost 
 per head of the workhouse, and of the remainder to the scanty wages 
 of the agricultural labourer, always, it may be said, eked out by pri- 
 vate charity. The home-market was thus stimulated in the whole- 
 somest way, and the whole effect of the rule became directly opposite 
 to that of an ordinary trade society seeking to establish a monopoly 
 of its labour. The Shefiield artisan, whea he had eaten and drank 
 his fill of beef and ale, might spend the residue of his very high wages 
 in champagne suppers, and in subscribing to a pack of harriers ; the 
 working collier, by limiting his labour at the very springtide of the 
 demand for it, helped to raise others to the standard of comfort which 
 he had secured for himself. 
 
 I am bound to say, indeed, that, having come to the conclusion that the 
 miner's calling is not precisely the nearly skOless one which Mr. 
 Tremenheere and employers generally represent it to be, I believe 
 that the restraint upon production imposed by the limitation of earnings 
 was somewhat greater than they state; and that this really accounts for 
 the ill-humour of employers at being compelled to take on new hands, 
 who yet, they declare, are so soon made equivalent to the old. Let 
 us, however, consider the limitation of earnings, no longer from the 
 employer's, but from the miner's point of view. Let us estimate, if 
 
 * Places of permanent employment at 245. per week are to this day gladly 
 taken by the most steady miners. 
 
TVest Yorkshire Coal-Strike and Lock-out. 23 
 
 you like, his motive at the lowest. Let us suppose, if need be, that, 
 so far as a limitation of earnings was recognised at all by the body 
 of the miners, its main object, beyond relieving the individual labourer 
 from a shai'e of his toil, was as a means of class-warfare, to prevent 
 the masters from accumulating stock, and so being able to do without 
 the men. Let us look at it solely in its consequences. 
 
 Considering the strong incentives which the collier has to demand 
 high wages, a voluntary limitation of his earnings may appear at first 
 sight, from a purely commercial point of view, very anomalous. 
 
 But it must be recollected that the hazardous nature of the collier's 
 labour is precisely that which renders it costly. Now a limitation of 
 earnings, amounting for the industrious to a limitation of the hours of 
 labour, by diminishing pro tanto the hazard, is really in Itself a gain. 
 The worker's life is rendered more valuable, his obligation to provide for 
 his wife and family sits less heavily upon him. The Employer says, as 
 we have seen (the case is no doubt quite exceptional), " I have known 
 men come out of the pit at eleven o'clock in the morning, having gone 
 in at six." Now, since the average of labour before the rise in prices 
 was nine hours, this reduction to five, for the hard-working at least, 
 swept away, prima facie, four-ninths of the extra risk attendant on their 
 calling ; and although the less duration of the danger would be in part 
 compensated by some additional risks, it still remains evident that, even 
 as respects the miner's own labour, the conduct of the men was not, 
 commercially speaking, so unwise as, jon'raa/acie, might be concluded. 
 When we consider, moreover, the axiom, "time is money," we may see 
 that the hours of leisure thus won may, to the able and earnest, have 
 been of incalculable value. What even if the great majority spent 
 them in riotous self-indulgence ? Still, the generation that has seen 
 George and Robert Stephenson pass into their graves should not be the 
 one to slight the value of a pitman's leisure. 
 
 It would be too much, indeed, I take it, to suppose that the hours 
 spared from labour were generally devoted to intellectual or moral self- 
 improvement. The colliers — although I have been singularly struck 
 with the clear' heads, sharp wits, and thorougli manliness of mind of 
 some whom I have met with — are generally represented as rude men, 
 addicted to the coarser physical indulgences. The " employment of 
 the miner," says one who knows them well, " is such as to fit ' rofughs ' 
 alone. None scarcely will remain at it who have not strong backs 
 and weak heads ; the best men generally try to get out of it as soon as 
 possible. As a body, therefore, they are animal, sensual, very ignoi-ant. 
 Strong excitements alone stir them; a drunken rout, a fight, a betting 
 match, a dog race, will bring thousands together. They only act upon 
 and for present and pressing motives and objects. They would never 
 combine, never strike, without adequate cause from without. But, once 
 roused, they are firm, dogged, true to a wonderful degree. Then 
 the few, ' the salt of the earth,' take the front and guide the battle. 
 The mass do not reason, but feel strongly and instinctively; often their 
 instincts are right when their reasons are wrong. Give them good 
 wages, and you will see them as busy as bees, at work or at play, 
 
24 Account of the 
 
 mining, drinking, betting, fighting."* Nor should it be overlooked, 
 that the self-indulgence of the miner is sadly fostered by the payment 
 of his wan-es at tlie unusually long interval of one fortnight as a 
 rule, sometimes even a month jf since, receiving so much money in a 
 lump, he has every temptation to squander it. But however much 
 the period of high wages may have developed the practice of sensual 
 indulgences, clearly the limitation of earnings was absolutely antago- 
 nistic thereto. Four and twenty shillings may be abundant wages for 
 a labourer, but evidently he could eat and drink to a much larger 
 figure; to limit his earnings to that sum is evidently to limit his 
 eating and drinking. . If men got drunk under the limitation rule, 
 obviously they did so, not because they eai-ned less, but because they 
 received more. The limitation of earnings therefore, beneficial to the 
 men physically, by reducing the margin of danger in their lives, was 
 also beneficial to them morally, by putting a curb on their self-indul- 
 gence. Nor is this all. The exchange, as far as possible, of the 
 confined underground life, with its heat, and its noisomeness, and its 
 dirt, and its darkness, estranging a few from the immense majority of 
 their fellow-creatures, for the free surface life of the ordinary worker, 
 for the air of heaven, and the light of the sun, and the sight of all 
 that air and sun make alive, brings with it other advantages. The men 
 allege, in one of their petitions to Parliament, as " a well-known fact, 
 that [the] longer the men are employed, the more liable are they 
 to become allured by intoxicating drinks or other debasing habits." 
 And when we consider the waste of nervous power which must be 
 produced, over and above the effects of physical exertion, by the 
 noxious gases which they inhale, it seems obvious that they speak only 
 the truth. For it must not be forgotten that capital and labour earn 
 their respective remunerations under very opposite conditions. The 
 larger the profit, generally speaking, the easier it is made ; a capital- 
 ist increases his outlay of capital to save his pains, and it is folly for 
 him not to do so when he can. But, at least where the labourer's 
 earnings resolve themselves into the amount of labour spent, the 
 first earnings of the day are the easiest, the last the hardest ; there is 
 a point, beyond which for a man to spend his labour, is to spend his 
 very self. Thus, a five or ten per cent, additional on earnings, which 
 the capitalist will be wisely eager to secure, may represent for the 
 labourer such an amount of exertion and exhaustion as not to seem 
 worth the sacrifice of winning it. And in the miners' case, the exhaus- 
 tion thus produced, by rendering them more careless, translates itself 
 at once into danger of life and limb ; thus justifying another state- 
 ment of the men's petition, that the longer "men remain in the work- 
 ings of a mine, the more liable [it is] to explosions from impure air 
 and noxious gases." 
 
 Thus we see that the seeming economic heresy of the miners' limi- 
 
 * See hoTyevev 2}ost, as to the effects of a trade society in modifying this picture, 
 t Our friendly Employer, I am happy to say, informs me that his " pays " are 
 weekly ones. 
 
TFest Yorkshire Coal-Strike and Lock-out. 25 
 
 tation of earnings miglit in fact justify itself by a variety of con- 
 siderations. One set-off to its advantages must indeed be noticed. 
 Just so far as tlie coal-owners, to counteract the effects of such limita- 
 tion, sought to flood their mines with new hands, the miner's abstinence 
 from labour tended indirectly to multiply accidents. But for these, 
 clearly, he could not be held accountable. Such accidents arose simply 
 fl'om this, that the employer's thirst for profit was greater than the 
 miner's for wages. I repeat, however, that I do not believe the prac- 
 tice of the limitation to have been by any means universal. In many 
 instances, I have reason to think, the miner earned up to the full 
 limit of his powers, and the dangers arising from the introduction of 
 new hands could not even indirectly be attributed to him. 
 
 At any rate, the limitation of earnings, so far as it checked pro- 
 duction, tended also to delay and moderate that crisis which over- 
 productien was now bringing on the trade. 
 
 III. Over-production and Fall in Prices — The Reduction of 
 Wages, and the Strike. 
 
 The introduction of new labour, the Employer tells us, " gave rise 
 to great competition in the sale of coal; and although there existed 
 agreements among the masters not to undersell each other, yet this 
 was done, first, in an underhand manner, by giving extra weight, and 
 allowing extra discount ; and afterwards by openly lowering the 
 price. 
 
 " By degrees, the average price of coal fell, from 6s. 8d. per ton 
 (its highest point) to about 4s. 9d., which afforded but very small 
 remuneration to the master, considering the highly increased wages 
 he was then giving. Hence the masters sought relief in reducing 
 wages, by part of the previous advance of 30 per cent." 
 
 The first attempt made in this direction, of which I can find an 
 authentic record, is shown by an advertisement inserted in the Leeds 
 Mercury, — a journal essentially favourable to the employers, — March 
 17th, 1855, but erroneously referred to 1854 in the men's "Plain 
 Statement." I give it from a copy obtained at the ofB.ce of that 
 journal. 
 
 " Resolutions of a meeting of the coal-masters for this district, 
 held at the 'Wellington' Hotel, Leeds, March 13th, 1855 : — 
 
 " 1. Proposed, that a reduction of 9rf. per day be made on the 
 colliers' wages. 
 
 " 2. Proposed, that a reduction of a \\d. per day be made on the 
 hurriers' wages. 
 
 " 3. Proposed, that a reduction of Is. per week be made on the 
 byworkmen's wages. 
 
 " 4. Proposed, that a resolution formerly passed, not to employ 
 each other's men without note, shall remain in force at the present, 
 and till rescinded. 
 
 " 5. Proposed, that a reduction of the top men's wages take place, 
 to be left to the discretion of their employers. 
 
 " 6. Proposed, that no reduction take place in the price of house 
 fire-coal till a meeting be called. 
 
26 Account of the 
 
 " 7. Proposed, that 2d. per yard be deducted from the straight- 
 work, board and end. 
 
 " The whole of these resolutions were carried unanimously. The 
 alterations in the wages to take place at the commencement of next 
 week's workings. 
 
 " Gboege Ellison, Esq., in the chair." 
 
 These resolutions are remarkable in many respects. They do not 
 purport, and are denied to be, those of the so-called " General Associa- 
 tion " of coal-owners, which, it is stated, always met at the " White 
 Horse," never at the " Wellington." But they prove the existence 
 of another distinct organization of masters seeking to regulate both 
 wages and prices. The fourth and sixth resolutions, for instance, 
 clearly show that the meeting at which they were passed is not to be 
 considered as an isolated event ; that previous meetings for similar 
 purposes had been and were intended to be held ; that resolutions had 
 been passed which were meant permanently to affect the relations be- 
 tween employer and employed. It must further be observed, that even 
 in October, 1855, according to the West Yorkshire Coal-Owner's 
 tables, the average price of coal was still 5s. 3d. per ton, or more than 
 21 J per cent, more than before the rise ; in the previous March, it must 
 have been higher still. Again, if we take the Employer's figure of 
 5s. 4d. a day as representing the collier's earnings at the enhanced 
 rate of wages, a reduction of 9d. a day, under resolution one, would 
 amount to upwards of 14 per cent., leaving him with less than 16 per 
 cent, advance, against the employer's 21 J. Lastly, it will not escape 
 notice that, whilst lowering wages, the employers were anxious not 
 to reduce prices to the public. The fourth resolution, moreover, was 
 most offensive to the men. Under it, any man once dismissed through 
 pique, might find himself cut off from all employment in the district. 
 
 I am not able to state the precise result of these resolutions. Some 
 of them, I am assured, were acted upon ; in the Gildersome district, 
 wages were in fact reduced on this occasion. But as respects the 
 reduction of wages, it was evidently not carried out till the period 
 referred to by the Employer, when, prices having fallen still farther, 
 the masters came to the resolution to take off one-half of the original 
 advance, or 15 per cent. " The disposition evinced by the men, and 
 their threats of a strike when a reduction was mentioned to them, 
 showed that any lowering must be made simultaneously ; and it was 
 agreed, that if the men should turn out upon any master, he should 
 be supported by the others." 
 
 It is declared by the " Employer," who gives us these details, that 
 the " question of reduction of wages was never mooted " — in the 
 General Association of Masters — " until the necessity of such a step 
 was forced upon their attention." It is hardly worth while to point 
 out that the Masters' Association, whether or not it had hitherto taken 
 cognizance of wages, was in an economical point of view exactly ana- 
 logous to a trade society, as seeking, on behalf of the seller, to regu- 
 late the price of coal, the quantity which might be given of it by 
 weight, measure, &c., just as the worker's trade society attempts, 
 
West Yorkshire Coal-Strike and Lock-out. 27 
 
 on behalf of the seller, to regulate the price of labour, the quantity 
 of it which may be given by the day, hour, job, &c. When, indeed, 
 in addition to their operations as a union of sellers, the masters also 
 undertook others as a union of buyers, by resolving to pay no more 
 than a certain price for labour, they acted as a worker's trade society 
 might do which should resolve to pay no more than a certain price 
 for bread, meat, ale, and the other raw materials of the labour -which 
 its members have to sell. 
 
 Owing to the absence of authentic records of the proceedings of 
 the Masters' Association, I am unable to fix the date when the re- 
 duction was resolved upon. The men's "Plain Statement," however, 
 mentions meetings of the masters at the " White Horse " in February 
 and March, 1858, and Mr. Holmes specifies a notice given by Messrs. 
 Kir by, Fenton and Co. on February 19th, which must probably have 
 either immediately followed or preceded, and in fact I believe pre- 
 ceded, a meeting of the Masters' Association. The notice set out 
 by Mr. Holmes, as well as in the "Plain Statement," under the date 
 of March 13th, clearly indicates a previous meeting for concerted 
 action amongst the employers. The account of the " Employer " 
 is simply that " a month's notice was consequently given to the men, 
 early in 1858, that a reduction in their wages, amounting to 15 per 
 cent, upon the then rate, would take place ; particularly mentioning 
 that the state of the trade rendered such a step imperative." It 
 should be observed, that the notice given by Mr. Holmes, and which 
 the " Employer " has since admitted to be, " though not in the exact 
 terms," yet "substantially correct," neither gives a full month, nor 
 assigns any ground for the reduction, thus bearing out the statement 
 of the men, that the reduction took place " without any explanation 
 being given or reason adduced ;" both statements being in fact no 
 doubt equally true according to the writers' experience.* Again, it 
 should not be overlooked that the 15 per cent, specified is on existing, 
 i.e. enhanced wages, which would be 18| per cent, on the original 
 figure, or more than three-fifths, instead of one-half, of the advance. 
 At the same time, I am assured that one-half the original advance was 
 in many cases the real reduction. 
 
 * The following printed notice, which haa been supplied to me by the men as 
 " one of the foundation stones " of their society, supplies additional evidence on 
 this point. I omit the name of the colliery, that of the signer, and of the person 
 to whom it is addressed. 
 
 " COLHERY, 
 
 "18<A day of March, 1858. 
 
 "To 
 
 " We hereby give you notice that a reduction of 15 per «ent. on your wages 
 will take place at the expiration of twenty-eight days from the date hereof. 
 
 " For- r and Company. 
 
 " (Signed) " 
 
 On the other hand, the "Employer" writes: "We certainly not only gave 
 notice (which we considered! we were bound to do by om' rules), but we also had 
 a conference with our men or a delegation from them, and then and there stated to 
 them, plainly and unequivocally, our reasons for the reduction (lamenting its 
 necessity), namely, the great reduction in the price of coal." 
 
28 Account of the 
 
 I shall not enter at length into the question, whether or not the 
 reduction sought to be efFectecl was " necessary." If the " Employer s 
 figures be adopted, the price of coal, being As. M. in place of 4«. Id. 
 before the rise, gave the master only 3-6 per cent, enhanced price. 
 But if, taking, as before, the mean between Mr. Carter and the " Em- 
 ployer," we reckon the average price before the rise at 4«. l^d., then 
 the enhancement of price was still more than 17 per cent., and 
 assuming other expenses to remain the same, the reduction of 15 per 
 cent, on wages, representing at least half the cost of production, would 
 leave the master with a good share of the enhanced price. But what 
 renders detail on the subject superfluous, is the fact already stated fl-om 
 Mr. Holmes, that the men have now recovered the whole of the advance, 
 and had it restored to them while coal was no higher than when 
 the reduction was attempted.* Unless, therefore, some entirely new 
 order of facts, favourable to the cause of the employers, can be 
 brought to light, it seems difficult to believe that a reduction, not 
 necessary in November, 1859, was necessary in February, 1858.t 
 
 The plain fact seems to be, that in the unrecognised copartnery 
 between capital and labour, the coal-owners had hitherto had the 
 lion's share. When, through the fluctuations of trade, this came to 
 pass into the men's hands, the masters sought to recover it by reduc- 
 ing wages. The men, on the other hand, having now got the lion's 
 share, refused to yield it, especially under a depression of prices arising 
 avowedly from the masters' own proceedings. Hence the strike. 
 
 IV. The Miners' Local Association — The Lock-out — The West 
 Yorkshire Coal-Oio?iers' Circular. 
 
 We have seen by the " Employer's " statement, that when the 
 notice of reduction was issued, a general lock-out was already in 
 principle decided on, in the event of any partial strike. The em- 
 ployers had accurately foreseen the tactics of the men. 
 
 " When the notice expired, and began to be acted upon, the colliers 
 demurred, and three separate collieries were selected by the opera- 
 tives' delegates to be stopped, until the masters of those particular 
 collieries should consent to give the former wages ; the men on 
 strike being supported by those at work on the reduction ; and it 
 was planned, that when this object should be attained, then two or 
 three other masters should be similarly treated, thus subduing the 
 employers by piecemeal. The associated masters, in consequence, 
 determined to support those of their OAvn body, whose men were on 
 strike, by contributing the 15 per cent, stopped from their men in 
 
 * A curious fact has indeed been mentioned to me, which I have been unable 
 as yet to verify, that whilst the other associated masters reduced wages, the 
 Gildersome district of masters advanced them, and of coiu-se got both men and 
 trade from the other districts. 
 
 t The " Employer " indeed states in a letter which I have received from him, 
 that between 1858 and 1859, "the pit price of ' seconds ' coal to most districts 
 advanced 6d. per ton — namely, from 45. &d. to 5s., and ' slack' also advanced 
 in price to a certain extent." But I learn from the Leeds coal-merchant before 
 referred to, that this advance took place soon after the men got their second 7i 
 per cent. 
 
West Yorkshire Coal-Strike and Lock-out. 29 
 
 work (and something extra if required) towards a fund for that pur- 
 pose. Thus the battle began, and continued for six months ; the 
 question being which side should first tire." This account is sub- 
 stantially the same as that of the " Plain Statement," except that the 
 latter refers the masters' resolution to support those of their number 
 who might be sti'uck against to an apparently earlier period. But 
 the former omits one very important point — that it was now, and 
 now only, that a regular organization was formed amongst the men.* 
 Whatever, therefore, may be the case in other trades, the Miners' 
 Association, of the formation of which a brief account will be found 
 in Mr. Holmes's paper, was strictly constituted in self-defence of 
 their class-interest against an actual reduction of wages, and when 
 the example of combination had been set to the men for many years 
 already by their employers. 
 
 The men's association was at this time simply a local one. The 
 " Special General Rules for the Government of the Miners' Association 
 of the West Yorkshire District, established in March, 1858," were 
 those of arf almost pure trade society. The Association was to con- 
 sist of " a general board of directors, and subordinate societies, each 
 governed by its own officers." No member of the Association was 
 to be " allowed to work more than eight hours per day, or to earn 
 more than 3*. 5d. per day, under the 15 per cent, reduction, and to 
 earn 4s. per day when the 15 per cent, is obtained, and no more." 
 The " Districts " into which the Association was to be divided were 
 to have "the power to sanction any strike or strikes, to the 
 amount of 10 per cent, on the number of members in the said 
 District, for any just and reasonable advance of wages for the labour 
 of the miner, or to prevent any unjust reduction of the wages of the 
 miner ;" but " on no account " was the District to "sanction any strike 
 to exceed the above amount, without having the permission of the 
 general board." Where a District sanctioned any Society "to strike or 
 cease work," the District was itself to provide " a fund for the sup- 
 port of the men on strike,'' paying 7s. a week to every man, 3s. 6d. a 
 week to boys above fifteen, Is. 9d. to boys from ten to fifteen, and Is. 
 per week to children under ten; but no Society was to be " allowed to 
 strike or cease work on any account without having the sanction of 
 the District Committee." Each separate Society was to provide a fund 
 for the relief of members becoming " lame by accident while attend- 
 ing to their dadly labour," with jDower to fix the rate of contributions 
 and the amount of benefit. A fine of half-a-crown, or three months' 
 suspension from all benefits, was inflicted on members making known 
 to strangers anything transacted or said at meetings " which would 
 be likely to cause an injury to the Society." But the Association 
 was not to " support or defend any member who should in any way 
 
 * I say a " regular " organization. I am informed indeed, by tlie " Employer," 
 that in the year 1853 the men "combined against the West Riding Colliery, 
 Messrs. Pope and Pearson, and a systematized support of the colliers of those 
 gentlemen took place, for some mouths, during a strike against them." It is 
 not, however, alleged that this ivas more than a temporary aifair. 
 
30 Account of the 
 
 violate the laws of the country, and by so doing lose his employ- 
 ment." 
 
 A trade organization of so militant a character was sure to meet 
 with determined resistance. The masters whose men were on 
 strike addressed circulars to their colleagues, requesting them not 
 to employ them.* 
 
 The history of the strike proper will be found at suiScient length 
 in Mr. Holmes's paper. The masters of course sought to meet it by 
 introducing fresh hands, who were, the " Employer" states from his. 
 own experience, " hooted, and hissed, and called black sheep ;" adding, 
 however, " there was no actual violence used." The work of these 
 men was however so far from sufficient — ^the contributions of, or for 
 the men, were either so much more freely given, or were made to 
 go so much farther, than the support of the masters to those among 
 them who were struck against — that the masters at last deemed them- 
 selves compelled to that terrible measure of a lock-out, by which the 
 moneyed man endeavours to starve the worker into submission. 
 
 "In September, 1858," writes the "Employer," "the associated 
 masters whose collieries were at work (in order to bring things to a 
 crisis) determined to stop their works also, and thus cut off the relief 
 afforded by their men to those on strike ; and requiring them, before 
 being allowed to resume work, to sign a paper engaging not to sup- 
 jjort any men who may have turned out ; also agreeing to work 
 eight hours per day when required." These resolutions (which are 
 assigned by the men to the 6th or 7th September) are somewhat dif- 
 ferently given in the " Plain Statement " and by Mr. Holmes. The 
 former version is virtually identical with the fourth statement of the 
 " Employers' Address to the Public," to be hereafter noticed, in 
 which " the West Yorkshire coal-owners " declare, " that the men at 
 aU collieries will be allowed to resume work on promising to conform 
 to the colliery rules, relinquish the restrictive principle, work eight 
 hours per day when required, and agreeing to abandon the Union." f 
 
 * The following is a copy of one of these documents, which I have taken myself 
 from the original. It is all in print, except the words in italics. 
 
 " Colliery, near 
 
 April 15th, 1858. 
 
 " To Messrs. and Co. 
 
 " Gentlemen, 
 
 " Below we beg to hand a list of underground workmen,now on strike at 
 
 our Collieiy, and shall feel obliged if you will abstain from employing any, 
 
 should they apply to you for work, unless they bring proper clearance papers 
 signed by us. 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " and Son." 
 
 (218 printed names follow.) 
 
 t The following is an exact copy (names omitted) of the declaration required, 
 from an original in the hand of the coal-owner : 
 
 " For the signature of the Men. 
 
 " We the undersigned hereby agree to wort for and Son in accordance'with 
 
 the general rules and bye-laws of Colliery (a copy of which rules and bye- 
 
JVesi Yorkshire Coal- Strike and Lock-out. 31 
 
 It is of course clearly understood that the resumption of work 
 meant was only at the 15 per cent, reduction. 
 
 These resolutions obviously interfere witla the freedom of action 
 of the men no less than the before quoted rules of the Miners' 
 Association. We observe in them the recurrence of a feature now 
 of frequent introduction in such contests, that of a declaration to be 
 signed by the worker.* The miner was required to bind himself not 
 to dispose of his own money according to his own will ; to work 
 under such regulations as his master might impose. The subject 
 of these "colliery rules," as the "Employer" terms them, deserves 
 that we should dwell an instant upon it. The Coal Mines Inspec- 
 tion Act, 18 & 19 Vict. cap. 108, enacts certain "general rules 
 to be observed in all coal-mines" (s. 4), and that, "in addition to the 
 general rules," there shall be established and observed in every coal- 
 mine or colliery such " special rules, for the conduct and guidance of 
 the persons acting in the management of such coal-mine or colliery, 
 and of all persons employed in or about the same, as under the par- 
 ticular state and circumstances of such coal-mine or colliery may ap- 
 pear best calculated to prevent dangerous accidents," which special 
 rules are made subject to the approval of a secretary of state. But 
 in addition to both general and special rules, there are also, I believe, 
 in every colliery, bye-laws, regulating the relations between masters 
 and men, and subject to no oi&cial scrutiny or sanction ; and it is 
 really these (as the form given above in a note wiU show) to which 
 the masters' resolutions sought to bind the men to conform, they being 
 already bound by law to observe the others. Now these bye-laws, 
 printed generally if not universally by the firms, and given or sold by 
 them to the men, are in many cases most stringent. In three sets 
 which I have before me,f the miner is made to lose the value of his 
 " corf" if sent to bank otherwise than well filled or cleaned ;| thus lite- 
 rally confiscating the fruits of the miner's labour if it does not reach 
 the precise point of cleanliness and accuracy which the master or his 
 local representative may insist on.§ All three have such a tone of 
 
 laws we Lave received), and at the wages current at Colliery since the 3rd of 
 
 April, 1858, and we also agree to work, when required, eight hours per day, and 
 without limitation of quantity. 
 
 " A man who is known to contribute to the Union will be discharged." 
 
 * The Bradford stone-masons lately sought to enforce the signature of a 
 " declaration " on their employers. 
 
 t "White Horse," "Neville Hill," and "Whitwood and Fairies Hill" 
 Collieries. 
 
 + "If any corf be sent to bank either improperly or imperfectly filled or 
 cleaned, the workman will forfeit all claim in respect of it." — Whitwood Rules. 
 (The others are equivalent.) 
 
 It should be remembered, moreover, that it is a very general complaint amongst 
 the men, that the corves are made to contain more coal than they are professed 
 to do. 
 
 ^ The confiscation of coives on this ground figures prominently among the 
 grievances of the Scotch miners, in Mr. Alexander Macdonald's pamphlet, 
 " Miners' Grievances." But the same complaint is still made in West Yorkshire. 
 
32 Account of the 
 
 rio-our about them, they bristle so with fines and penalties,* that they 
 suggest rather a prison than a trading concern. For any breach of 
 these bye-laws the miner is liable to a fine " not exceeding 10s., nor 
 less than Is.," to be levied by the agent ; "for flagrant disobedience or 
 misconduct, the ofiender may be fined, or immediately dismissed, or 
 taken before the magistrate." Two provisions especially, of the 
 "White Horse " Colliery, quoted in the "Plain Statement," but which 
 I copy from the actual bye-laws above referred to, are so exorbitant, 
 that our friendly " Employer " says of them : "I never saw, or heard 
 of such a rule as here quoted, and do not believe such a one exists at 
 any colliery in the West Elding," — a statement which oiily exempli- 
 fies the mutual ignorance which may prevail among employers as to 
 each other's proceedings. Here they are : — 
 
 "8. Any miner or other workman who neglects, or absents himself 
 from, work, unless prevented from working by sickness or accident, 
 of which he shall furnish the agent with a medical certificate in proof 
 thereof, will be fined Is. per day for every working day he so absents 
 himself, excepting Saturday, when a fine of 2s. will be levied if he so 
 absents himself. 9. A fine of Is. will be levied on every miner, 
 hurrier, or other workman, who ascends the pit before two o'clock 
 in the afternoon, unless compelled by sickness or accident, of which 
 he shall acquaint a deputy or the under-viewer, who shall give him 
 an order to ascend if requisite." Assuming, as I have no doubt, 
 that such bye-laws as the last are wholly exceptional, they are suffi- 
 cient to show the folly of the masters in attempting to enforce, or 
 seeming to do so, by collective action, such excesses of individual 
 strictness, to use no harsher term, as they represent.| 
 
 To support their proceedings, the masters, in the month of October, 
 1858, issued the circular before referred to, headed " Colliers' Strike," 
 and which will be found at full length in Mr. Tremenheere's Report. 
 Its strongest points are of course those which attack the rules of 
 the Miners' Association. The masters asserted, 1st. That they had 
 only taken off half of the advance made in 1853, — a statement 
 which, if I read the notice of redu.ction aright, is under the truth. 
 2nd. That the miners could, at the reduced rate, earn 4s. to 4s. 6d. 
 for eight hours' work, clear of deduction. 3rd. That " the increased 
 staff of officers rendered essential at every colliery, in order to 
 conform to the recent enactments of Parliament, together with the 
 late and present depressed state of trade," rendered the rate of wages 
 as " liberal" as could be afibrded — which is sufficiently disposed of by 
 subsequent events, as well as the 4th point, stating the conditions on 
 
 * I am at a loss to account for the practice of employers' fines, whicli is to be 
 found in almost every trade. What foundation lias it ? It is directly contrary to 
 Magna Charta. 
 
 t The bye-laws generally require (except on Saturdays) ten hours' clear work, 
 exclusive of meal times, of" every carpenter, blacksmith, sawyer, wood-cutter, me- 
 chanic, pick-sharpener, bricklayer, mason, coke-burner, coal-picker, or other la- 
 bourer," employed in or about the collieries. But hewers are not, I understand, 
 held to be included in this enumeration. 
 
West Yorkshire Coal- Strike and Lock-out. 33 
 
 whicli the men would be " allowed to resume work." They declared, 
 Sthly, " That the present struggle is not one based on the question of 
 wages alone, but is in fact a struggle for the entire mastery between 
 the employers and the employed," and adduced as proofs of "the spirit 
 of dictation, towards both their masters and their fellow-workmen, 
 evinced by the colliers," besides rule 17 of the Miners' Association, 
 the fact, that "within the last few months several masters have received 
 notices from their men that unless certain individuals obnoxious to 
 the Unionists were summarily dismissed, the whole of the men 
 employed intended to strike ; also, vice versa, that if such obnoxious 
 men were taken on, the same consequences would ensue." 6thly. Re- 
 ferring to the eighth rule of the Miners' Association,they declared, "that 
 unless the masters make a firm stand against their men's unfair de- 
 mands in the first instance, the present state of agitation and ferment 
 will be prolonged indefinitely." In conclusion, they denied in toto 
 that the men had exhausted every means for coming to an amicable 
 settlement ; repeated the charge of dictation ; saw no reason why 
 miners should be alone exempted from bearing their due share of 
 occasional depression ; declared that " the colliers refuse, at all col- 
 lieries, to work for stock," and finally entreated "the kind-hearted not 
 blindly to be led away by the false and garbled statements issued by 
 the demagogues and stump-orators, who for interested motives are 
 endeavouring to lead the colliers astray, to their own ultimate 
 ruin." 
 
 Such then was the masters' case in defence of the lock-out, which 
 unfortunately Mr. Tremenheere has alone reproduced. I will make 
 only two observations upon it. First, let it be observed that it does 
 not allege one single act of personal violence on the part of the men. 
 Next, that in conjunction with the fact of the lock-out, it wholly dis- 
 poses of the masters' usual allegation, that the miner's labour is an 
 unskilled one, and that all the requisite skill can be acquired in a few 
 weeks. Evidently, if this were so, with the whole market of unskilled 
 labour to pick from, the employers never would have ventured on 
 such a measure as the closing of their pits. 
 
 V. The attempted Arbitration. — The Miners' General Associa- 
 tion. — The "Plain Statement." — Close of the Lock-out and Strike. 
 
 The attempt to compel the worker to give up what organization he 
 may have for keeping up wages is never less likely to succeed (other- 
 wise than in appearance) than when coupled with an endeavour ac- 
 tually to reduce wages. " Nine-tenths of the colliers," the Employer 
 states, " i-efused to comply with these conditions, and the struggle 
 was continued with increased intensity, and with much extended ope- 
 ration, for about two months longer." For the detailed history of the 
 lock-out I must again refer to Mr. Holmes's paper. The whole of 
 each class, it maybe said, was now {7th October) in array against the 
 other. 2,400 men and boys were locked out, making, with those al- 
 ready on strike, about 3,200 out of work. " The men who had been 
 payers," says the " Plain Statement," " of from two to three shillings 
 per week, now became receivers, and the funds which were slowly accu- 
 
 D 
 
34 Account of the 
 
 mulated became immediately drained." If it be recollected that we have 
 not before us, as in the case of the Amalgamated Engineers' strike and 
 lock-out, or that of the Builders, a well-established trade organization, 
 disposino', at the very beginning of hostilities, of an accumulated capi- 
 tal, but one first struggling into existence upon an actual reduction 
 of wages, it will be seen how difficult was the position of the men, in 
 the face of the experienced combination of the masters. 
 
 That they met this ominous position with the most determined 
 constancy is not denied by those even who most disapprove of their 
 proceedings. The masters' lock-out moreover, although appealing 
 to the fellow-feelings of capitalists of all classes, was yet, in its im- 
 mediate eiFects, singularly inconvenient to the public. Although 
 intended to diminish the cost of production, it began, like any other 
 strike, by diminishing the supply of the article produced, and so rais- 
 ing its price ; whilst the sudden stoppage of weekly wages reduced 
 the local traders to a state often bordering on insolvency. The 
 masters were of course always trying to introduce new men. " We 
 turned top-hands into colliers as well as we could," says the Employer 
 in his examination ; "we paid them by the day at the same rate as 
 we paid them at their own work. . . It cost us more per ton to employ 
 these men than the regular colliers. . . There were several common 
 labourers who went down on this occasion. . . On this occasion, 
 when we employed these unskilled labourers, we raised the price 
 of coal, because the supply was short." Partly, no doubt, stimulated 
 by the inconveniences of the lock-out, partly by sympathy for the 
 sufferings of the men and their families, the outside public now began 
 to move in the matter. The vain efforts at compromise and arbitration 
 which occupied the month of October are set forth in the " Plain 
 Statement" and in Mr. Holmes's paper, but find no place in the 
 "Employer's" account, or in Mr. Tremenheere's report. This was 
 the last : A respectful memorial to the employers, requesting them 
 to submit to arbitration, was signed by Dr. Hook, the Vicar of Leeds, 
 "sundry leading firms, and justices of the peace;" was acceded to by 
 the men — I use the words to me of one who signed it — in the most 
 unreserved manner ; and was laid before a meeting of employers on the 
 21st of October. The request was refused on the 28th, point blank, 
 and a deputation authorized by the miners to propose certain terms 
 of concession could not even obtain an interview. 
 
 After this, say the men, they had " no other course but to fight it 
 out." But the local Association hitherto formed was too weak to carry 
 on the contest single-handed. The "Miners' Association of the 
 West Yorkshire District " now sought to expand into the " Miners' 
 Association of the United Kingdom," which was established, No- 
 vember 9th, 1858, at the "Coal-miners' Conference, held at the Old 
 George Inn, Briggate, Leeds." The rules of this new body, which 
 retain little more than the preamble of the former ones, bear the 
 most genuine stamp at once of the rough uncultivated class from 
 which they emanate, and of the circumstances under which they were 
 compiled. The objects ofthe Association were, "1st. To support such 
 
West Yorkshire CoaUStrihe and Lock-out. 35 
 
 as may be thrown out of employment or victimized for taking an 
 active, consistent and upright part in promoting the welfare of our 
 Association, viz., having attended its meetings, contributed to its 
 funds, or in any other way promoted its establishment. 2nd. To such 
 [sic] as may be incapacitated from following their own employment 
 by accident, and should death ensue, an allowance for their interment. 
 3rd. To the payment of a certain sum to such as may be permanently 
 injured, and to every m.ember's widow." 
 
 The society was therefore still primarily a trade society. It strove 
 no longer indeed expressly to regulate work and wages, thougi seeking 
 to " support those who may be thrown out of employment, or vic- 
 timized." But it sought also to provide, not only for cases of accident 
 (both by allowances and funeral expenses), but for " any member's 
 widow." It was now to operate by means of a half-yearly conference, 
 local lodges, " composed of members employed in and about all col- 
 lieries," and district meetings, consisting of "representatives from the 
 various lodges or collieries ;" the main authoritji residing, however, 
 with the district meetings. I am informed, however, that owing to 
 the differences of practice in the various mining districts, this General 
 Association has never been carried out, although its rules have served 
 as the foundation of those of the various district societies, which I shall 
 have to notice hereafter. 
 
 The resolutions of the Coal-miners' Conference, held at Leeds, as 
 mentioned above, from the 9th to the 1 3th November, indicate better 
 even than the rules of the projected General Association, the scope 
 which was now given to the warfare of classes. The 13th resolution 
 bore, "that a levy of Is. per fortnight be laid on the miners in Durham, 
 Northumberland and Derbyshire"; the 15th, "that we do all in our 
 power to assist the men of Northumberland and Durham in their en- 
 deavours to engage Mr. Roberts" (i. e. the so-called "miners' attorney- 
 general"), "providing Mr. Eoberts wiU agree to transact all legal busi- 
 ness connected with the Miners' Association at the salary of £800 a 
 year ; Mr, Eoberts to bear his own expenses, and to reside in the 
 centre of the mining districts." 5,000 " Conference Addresses " were 
 to be printed, and 15,000 rules. A petition to Parliament for short 
 hours was proposed to be prepared at the next convention ; " the 
 authors of all (!) communications to the papers on ventilation and 
 the short hours' question " were requested to send a copy of th-e same 
 to the general secretary. The wind-up is remarkable : " The present 
 convention, in conclusion, strongly advise all districts to use their 
 best endeavours to promote a good understanding with their em- 
 ployers, and to resist all movements tending to either ' strikes or 
 lock-outs.' " 
 
 In answer to the Employers' circular, the men put forth different • 
 placards, and latterly their "Plain Statement," read at a public 
 meeting at the Court-house, Leeds, November 11, 18o8. Allowing 
 for haste, and for the heats of the moment, the document appears to 
 me on many points to meet the case of the employers, and to have at 
 least deserved some mention in Mr. Tremenheere's report. It mis- 
 
 D 2 
 
36 Account of the 
 
 states indeed tlie date of the Leeds masters' resolutions of the 13th 
 March, 1855, and erroneonsly, as it would seem, attributes them to 
 the General Association of Coal-owners, and one or two of its figures 
 as to price are contested ; but these are all the corrections of fact, 
 except one clearly unfounded, which have been suggested respecting 
 it, after a hostile examination by a most competent person. The 
 " Plain Statement " does not indeed attempt to defend the rules of 
 the West Yorkshii-e Miners' Association, seeing that this body was 
 intended to be superseded by the General Association. But it re- 
 plies to the charge of dictation, and unfair demands, by the men's 
 offer to arbitrate, and the masters' refusal. It denies that the men 
 " refuse at all collieries to work for stock," admitting that they have 
 done so in the face of a lock-out, when to stock at 15 per cent, 
 reduction would have been " to cut our own throats," and not deny- 
 ing that, " as a body, miners dislike to work for stock." It charges 
 the masters with, on their side, harbouring obnoxious men, and with 
 an abusive exercise of the system of " clearance papers," the exist- 
 ence of which is indeed proved by the Leeds masters' resolutions of 
 1855. The allegation that the Government requirements increase 
 the cost of mining, it denies to be true in the long run, as such 
 requirements insure safety. 
 
 The question of the men's alleged refusal to work for stock, may 
 perhaps deserve that we should dwell a moment over it. The charge 
 is repeated by the " Employer." "Our men," he says in his examina- 
 tion, "will not allow us to keep stocks of coal. If we have no vessels 
 to load, or wagons to load, the men come out immediately. It is 
 their own loss, as well as ours. The object is, that when they strike 
 we may not be independent of them. We have some orders that 
 must be supplied immediately, but which we cannot supply for seve- 
 ral days, for want of a stock. There is also another inconvenience ; 
 there are two sorts of coal in the same seam (best coal and inferior 
 coal), and we have sometimes orders for the second quality and not 
 for the best, and in such cases our men will not allow us to stock the 
 best coal, which we are compelled to get at the same time, so that we 
 are obliged to sell it as seconds. We used to sell twice as much 
 best coal as seconds, and now we sell twice as much seconds as best. 
 The natural proportion in the seam, is two of best coal, to one of 
 seconds." 
 
 The "Plain Statement," on the other hand, admitting, as I have 
 said, the men's dislike to work for stock, assigns for reason, that they 
 find by universal experience, when they are so working, that they 
 are " docked " in their corves, and " hampered by all sorts of un- 
 reasonable pretences " to reduce wages ; " and therefore, as the men 
 say, they had ' raither lake (play) for nout then wark for nout.'" 
 If, indeed, we were to take strictly the " Employer's " statements as 
 to the little remunerative character of coal-mining, and the heaviness 
 of the item of labour in the cost of production, it would seem some- 
 what improbable that the coal-owner should often have a strong bonk 
 fide interest in working for stock at ordinary wages, or be seriously 
 
West Yorkshire Coal-Strike and Lock-out. 37 
 
 injured by the men's refusal to do so. His business, it should be ob- 
 served, is not damaged by occasional interruptions, but in fact requires 
 them, — thus essentially distinguishing his case from that of the iron- 
 master and other employers, who suffer greatly by any suspension 
 of their works. Thus, in a lecture on the " West Yorkshire Coal- 
 strikes," by the Rev. W. E. Bowditch, incumbent of St. Andrew's, 
 Wakefield, — a writer, as before mentioned, strongly adverse, to the 
 men — an anecdote is introduced, showing that, when trade is bad, 
 a coal-owner is considered " lucky " in having his men on strike, as 
 he thereby loses nothing, instead of working at a loss. I am bound 
 to add in conclusion on this point, that the men wliom I have spoken 
 with deny most strongly that their dislike to work for stock goes to 
 the length of refusal, otherwise than during a conflict. 
 
 The masters' refusal to submit to arbitration, and the " Plain 
 Statement," appear at all events to have now strongly enlisted the 
 public feeling in favour of the men, as will be seen from Mr. Holmes's 
 paper. On the other hand, the check upon production was begin- 
 ning to tell upon prices, whilst the want of skilled hands was more 
 and more felt in the mines. At the end of November, " one of the 
 masters, unknown to the others," writes the Employer, " compro- 
 mised the matter with his men (through the medium of the trea- 
 surer of the Colliers' Union, Mr. R. Bayldon*), by agreeing to 
 reduce only 7J per cent, and without requiring any stijjulation as 
 to the men not supporting strikes. The example being set, and th& 
 masters' regulations being violated, all the other employers did the 
 same, and the strike ended ; the masters having established, and the 
 men submitted to, a reduction of TJ per cent, upon their former 
 wages ; but the men still receiving 22 per cent, more than prior to 
 1853." It is obvious that, although our friend speaks of the 
 masters having " established " this reduction, yet tlieir defeat was 
 nevertheless complete, since the men resumed work without sub- 
 mitting to any one of the conditions on which alone, accord- 
 ing to the masters' circular, they were to be "allowed" to do so. 
 It is much to be regretted that Mr. Tremenheere should have been 
 misled into speaking of this as of " the men accepting the masters' 
 terms." 
 
 The termination of the contest seems to have been in general 
 thankfully received by the men. '' We are happy to say it is now 
 over," say the Wakefield and Methley District in their final balance- 
 sheet for the strike period, " and all the pits are at Avork again, and 
 we trust that all bitterness of spirit engendered in our trade between 
 masters and men, and among fellow-workmen, will for ever cease, 
 but that all will remember the precept, ' Peace on earth, goodwill 
 towards men.' We forbear further to refer to the past, as we wish 
 
 * Tlie credit of having brought this lamentable struggle to a close is assigned 
 by others to Mr. Carter and Mr. Holmes. The men insist most positively on thi s 
 point. Mr. Bayldon was only treasurer of the Methley district. 
 
38 Account of the 
 
 witli all our lienrts that these words may have their full weight with 
 tis." Still, jealousy was no doubt felt towards those who had taken 
 work on the terms of the lock-out. " It was insisted by the i-egular 
 colliers," says the Employer in his evidence, " when they came to 
 work again, that we should dismiss these new hands, but we refused." 
 Every right-minded employer no doubt did the same. "I do not 
 think," adds however the witness, "the leaders of the Union insisted 
 on the dismissal of these men ; I think it was the doing of our men 
 only. I think the leaders of trades' unions cannot always bridle their 
 followers." On the other hand, it is alleged by the secretary to the 
 Miners' Association, that it is "generally" the masters or their agents 
 who influence the old hands to drive their temporary suljstitutes away, 
 because they lose by them. I believe indeed there is no doubt that 
 these " top hands " (often Irish), if retained as colliers, are found 
 invariably afterwards the noisiest in asserting their rights as such 
 against the masters. 
 
 It should not indeed be forgotten that although the great West 
 Yorkshire strike terminated on the 18t±i December, 1858, the district 
 did not become free from partial ones. The general secretary to the 
 Miners' Association, in a paper supplied to this Committee, states 
 that the last strike terminated on June the 6th (1859), and that at 
 the time of his -imting there were " 110 men locked out." 
 
 Nor would this present paper be complete without some mention 
 of the South Yorkshire coal-strike, which was in great measure 
 simultaneous with, and ran parallel to, that in West Yorkshire, but 
 has attracted far less public attention. The South Yorkshire coal- 
 miner appears, from information I have received from the men, to 
 be the best paid of all the collier class ; but he is paid on a different 
 system from the West Yorkshireman, and whilst his earnings are 
 large, the deductions are very large also, and apparently peculiar. 
 Suffice it to say of this strike, which was equally followed by a lock- 
 out, that it terminated (if I am informed aright) without even the 
 7 J per cent, reduction which was temporarily accepted by the colliers 
 of West Yorkshire. Some reference to the strike, but not to the 
 issue of it, will be found in Mr. TremenJieere's report. I am sorry 
 to say a lock-out on the part of the South Yorkshire employers has 
 lately taken place. 
 
 VI. Results of the Strike. — Cost. — Moral Effects. — Further Pro- 
 ceedings of the Masters' and Miners' Associations. 
 
 If we seek now to count the cost of this strike and lock-out, we 
 may find it reckoned by Mr. Holmes in his paper at £100,000 in all, 
 of which £53,725 As. \d. fell on the men, namely £45,720 in wages, 
 and £8,005 As. Id. in subscriptions. A fearful loss, no doubt, to the 
 community, but if we take the workers' point of view, perhaps hardly 
 what we think it to be. For if we take Is. 9Jrf. per week (7^ per 
 cent, on 24^.) as the average value won per man, and Qd. per week 
 (7J per cent, on 10«.) as the average value won per boy, — using 
 Mr. Holmes's figures of 2,600 men and 800 boys as giving the strength 
 of the labour thrown out of employment, — then the 7^ per cent. 
 
West Yorkshire Coal-Strike and Loch-out. 39 
 
 extra will represent £255 8s. id. per week, or £13,282 10s. per 
 annum, secured through the strike. In other words, supposing there 
 were no fresh contests, and that the wages remained 7 J per cent, 
 higher than they might have done, should the miners have submitted 
 to the entire reduction, the whole capital laid out by the men would 
 have paid itself in a trifle over four years out of the increased earn- 
 ings ; and even so, I believe that, on the one hand, the loss in wages 
 would be somewhat overstated, as many of the colliers no doubt found 
 more or less remunerative employment, and on the other, that the 
 amount of gain would be understated, as the increase of wages reached 
 men who were actually at work on the employers' terms. But, inas- 
 much as we know that 7^ per cent, more was won back within a 
 year, raising thereby the yearly gain of £13,282 10s. to £26,565, it is 
 probable that the net economic result, in the working man's eyes, 
 is this ; a strike, at first only partially successful, like the West 
 Yorkshire one of 1858, may pay itself within three years, — the whole 
 organization of a trade society being thrown in as a bonus. 
 
 We may, or we may not, agree in this view of the question, which 
 is no doubt a very partial one at best ; looking only to the class in- 
 terest of the worker, and not even taking into account the sufferings 
 of the women and children of his class during a strike, and the posi- 
 tive injury to their health thereby produced.* But whether we do 
 or not so agree, it is important for us to understand that this is a 
 view taken by the working man of strikes and trade societies, as 
 shown by Mr. Dunning's speech at the Bradford Conference, and his 
 recent pamphlet. The commercial principles on which the worker 
 withholds the supply of labour are precisely those on which any 
 dealer holds back a given article to enhance its price, nor should we 
 dream in the latter case of reckoning the value of the speculation by 
 the profit foregone only, instead of by that ultimately realized. 
 
 So far the economic results of the strike. As respects the moral 
 ones, hero is the testimony of one who is indeed an interested wit- 
 ness, — the general secretary to the Miners' Association. 
 
 " As to the eiFects of the strikes, they have been good. Habits 
 of prudence, economy, and forethought have been instilled into the 
 minds of our members ; moral benefits have resulted from the men 
 meeting often together, to discuss their grievances, hear lectures," 
 &c. He adds this curious fact in the economics of trades' unions : 
 '■ Members pay the best and in the greatest numbers, when the pay- 
 ments are heaviest ; the reason for this is, that the better portion of 
 the members see a greater necessity for coming forward . . . men 
 
 * A letter from one of the most earnest advocates of the claims of the men, dated 
 June 30, 1859, speaks of " the increased mortality resulting from the poverty and 
 want experienced during the strike. Women and children have died very exten- 
 sively this spring and summer, owing (so the surgeons and nurses say) to the 
 starvation of previous months. Diphtheria and fever have been very fatal among 
 childj'en : while many women have died during pregnancy, or just after, from 
 debility." 
 
40 Account of the 
 
 with the greatest families are the best members, and the truest to 
 the cause."* 
 
 Another friend to the men writes (February 8, 1860) : "Nearly 
 all the objectionable bye-laws are rescinded, and the men are now 
 treated with a consideration previously unknown." 
 
 Again, June 21, 1860 : " At present I am assured the men here- 
 abou*t were never so well treated, paid, or worked before. Messrs. 
 ai-e especially kind and attentive to their men, either as to com- 
 plaints or suggestions for improvements ; and certainly they, as well 
 as the men, will be the better for it. And this the men place as due 
 to the strike." 
 
 Our friend the Employer's paper was drawn up at a time when 
 the men were still working at 7J per cent, reduction, and threaten- 
 ing to turn out unless it were restored, so that much of what he says 
 on the subject, as well as upon the 4«. limitation of earnings, sup- 
 ported by the men on the ground of the need of raising prices, would 
 now be out of place. Taking, however, the Miners' Associations as 
 the main abiding result of the strike, it is important to observe that 
 in his examination, whilst giving his testimony against trades' unions, 
 as being at present not beneficial, and giving the men discontented 
 notions, he adds : " I believe that trades' unions, if properly con- 
 ducted, would be beneficial to the workmen rather than otherwise, 
 but the promoters and head-men of the trades' unions cannot keep 
 under those that belong to them. I think in many cases trades' 
 unions would, if properly conducted, also be of benefit to the em- 
 ployer, in keeping in check unprincipled employers." And he is 
 " disposed to think " that without combination the workmen "could 
 not secure " a fair rise in wages when improperly withheld ; "public 
 opinion would hardly be sufiicient to secure them that." 
 
 The implied testimony of the "Employer " to the "promoters and 
 head-men" of trade societies should be observed, as it effectually 
 disposes of the passage at the close of the employers' circular in de- 
 fence of the lock-out, where they speak of the " demagogues and 
 stumiJ-orators," who, "for interested motives," endeavour "to lead 
 the colliers astray ;" and it exactly tallies, on the other hand, with 
 
 * The following comparison between a " society pit " and a " non-society pit " is 
 given by the same witness in another commnnication : — 
 
 " At the extremes of our district there are two collieries, ten miles apart. They 
 hoth belong to the same proprietor ; at each about the same number of hands are 
 employed. Both joined the society at its commencement in 1858, one soon fell 
 away : the other has remained true and active. ... At the union place, a general 
 air of comfort and respectability in the personal appearance of our men and their 
 families is evident; rectitude of conduct is seldom interfered with by vicious 
 indulgences ; the pig here takes the place of the bull-pup and the game-cock. 
 Go over to the other place, you will find the public-house well frequented ; the 
 general conversation, mingled with the rattle of the dominoes, will be loud and 
 deafening ; the general topics of conversation will be found to turn on cock or 
 dog-fighting, and other matters recorded in BdVs Life (their gospel) and Fistiana. 
 . . . This is the only corner of our district where females are employed on the 
 pit-bank." 
 
JVest Yorkshire Coal-Strike and Lock-out. 41 
 
 the interesting statement of Mr. Holmes in his paper, that the men 
 selected as their leaders " the very best of their class," men who 
 "were "the last to strike and the first to concede," and who, so far from 
 acting " for interested motives," refused all special remuneration, 
 and would only "share penny for penny" with the rest "of the lock- 
 outs," i.e. taking "from lOrf. to 4s. weekly." One cannot but regret 
 after this that a random libel like that contained in the statement of 
 the West Yorkshire coal-owners should have been reproduced with- 
 out contradiction in an oificial document such as Mr. Tremenheere's 
 report. 
 
 If we now look to the further proceedings of the trade organiza- 
 tions of employers and employed, the one of which occasioned, and 
 the other or others of which maintained the strike, we shall find 
 indeed little additional to say of the Coal-Owners' Association, seeing 
 the habitual secrecy in which it shrouds itself. It has not even now, 
 I learn from the " Employer," a paid secretary, and communications 
 addressed to the gentleman who filled that of^ce are answered by a 
 member of the Association. It seems, however, lately to have de- 
 voted its attention to the forming "a sort of insurance society against 
 strikes," to use the Employer's words, according to the rules of which 
 it is proposed that each master, entering as a member, shall subscribe 
 a certain sum "per operative in his employ per week towards a fund," 
 and in case his colliers strike, he shall receive from that fund so 
 much per man per week, " for as many men as he has subscribed 
 for, so long as his colliers remain out ;" it not being, however, " im- 
 perative upon any master to subscribe for all the men whom he 
 employs, but only for so many as he thinks proper to enter; and the 
 remuneration or compensation, in case of a strike, shall be jDropor- 
 tional." 
 
 The men shrink far less from publicity. The Miners' Conference 
 met again, at Ashton-under-Lyne, on May 2nd, 1859, and the five 
 following days. Much of its time seems to have been spent in settling 
 the frame of a petition to Parliament of the workers in coal and 
 iron-stone of Great Britain and Ireland ; a very remarkable docu- 
 ment, though excessive in its demands, which will be found referred 
 to, and extracted from, in Mr. Tremenheere's report. It sought a 
 limitation of the hours of labour in mines ; compulsory education 
 for children under fourteen ; compulsory appliances for safety ; a 
 special tax on the sale of coals, for the support of miners' widows and 
 orphans, the education of their children, and the establishment of a 
 miners' home for disabled miners ; and lastly, the establishment of the 
 apprenticeship system among the mining population. Two thousand 
 copies of the petition, with reasons in support of it, were ordered to 
 be printed, and a deputation was sent to London to urge it, whilst a 
 levy of 3d. per member was directed to be raised in all districts, and 
 Id. per month afterwards, " to meet Parliamentary and other peti- 
 tion expenses." It was further resolved that, as the Miners' Inspec- 
 tion Act would terminate in 1860, the whole of the amalgamated 
 districts should use their efforts to " procure a better Act "' for the 
 
42 Account of the 
 
 purpose. The Conference further took cognizancfe of " the binding 
 system in the counties of Northumberland and Durham," — of the lock- 
 out of the " North Warwickshire miners," — and prepared the follow- 
 ing important series of questions, to be answered by the coal and 
 iron-stone miners in England and Wales : — 
 
 1. What is the age of the oldest man engaged in your colliery or 
 district, and the average duration of life? 
 
 2. What is the length of hours worked by the men and boys under 
 fourteen years of age in your pit? 
 
 3. Have the boys time to attend schools if willing ? 
 
 4. How many men and how many boys are employed in your col- 
 liery or iron-stone mine? 
 
 5. What is the state of the ventilation in your colliery or iron-stone 
 mine ? 
 
 6. How is the Inspection Act carried out in your colliery or dis- 
 trict ? 
 
 7. Does your employer adopt any means for the education of young 
 persons employed in his mines? 
 
 Questions obviously calculated to elicit most valuable information. 
 
 Mr. Tremenheere says of the petition and the reasons accompany- 
 ing it, that " the tone and language adopted are deserving of all re- 
 spect," and deems it " encouraging and satisfactory" that the men 
 should have suggested the high standard of education set out in the 
 " Reasons." He further informs us that the several points of the 
 petition were discussed at the meeting of the Mining Association of 
 Great Britain, in March, 1859, but regrets to say that, as respects 
 education, the meeting expressed " an opinion adverse to legislation 
 in any form." 
 
 A further conference of miners appears to have taken place in 
 November, 1859, of which, however, I have not received the minutes. 
 From it however appears to have emanated a petition on the subject 
 of the inspection of coal-mines, which, in its latest form, is appended 
 to this paper, together with a statement, addressed to " the Honour- 
 able Members of the Commons House of Parliament," and embodying, 
 in an amended shape and with additional developments, the petition 
 and reasons referred to by Mr. Tremenheere. The two together ap- 
 pear to me, I must say, however we may differ from some of the views 
 and demands expressed, the most remarkable and creditable products 
 hitherto of trade organization among working men. It is satisfactory 
 to add, that educational clauses have, on the representation of the men, 
 been introduced into the new Collieries Inspection Bill, the jirogress 
 of which a deputation of five, representing respectively the colliery 
 districts of West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Stafibrd- 
 shire, Lancashire and Cheshire, and Scotland, was sent to London to 
 watch. I have before stated that the (General) " Miners' Association 
 of the United Kingdom" has failed to establish itself, although partly 
 replaced by a temporary organization, called the "Amalgamated 
 Union," for the express purpose of obtaining a good Inspection Act. 
 There are, however, germs of local organization which might be easily 
 
PFest Yorkshire Coal-Strike and Lock-out. 43 
 
 quickened into life for a more energetic class-resistance even than 
 that which triumphed in 1858,. existing in the shape of district trade 
 societies, the laws of three of which are before me. 
 
 The " Miners' Association of the Adwalton and Drighlington 
 District, established January, 1859" (rules "revised and improved, 
 June, 1860"), consists " of collieries or lodges-, composed of miners, 
 bywork men and boys employed in collieries," under the authority 
 of " a district board of directors," " composed of one delegate from 
 each colliery or lodge, and three principal officers for the district." 
 Its object is, to raise a fund for insuring " a sum of money to be paid 
 to the members who may be duly authorized by the district board 
 ©f directors to strike or cease work to obtain any just and reason- 
 able advance of wages for the labour of the members, or to prevent 
 any unjust reduction of wages for the labour of the members, and to 
 such as may be thrown out of employment or victimized for taking 
 an active part, o'r in any way promoting the welfare of this Associa- 
 tion, and to prevent all other encroachments upon the rights of the 
 members." The district board of directors has "power to autho- 
 rize any number of members to strike or cease work ;" to "equalize 
 and diminish the labours of the members ;" to " send a deputation 
 to the conference of any trades' union or elsewhere when deemed 
 advisable." At the time of authorizing a strike, they are to " lay 
 on an additional levy," on all the members to the amount of " one- 
 fourth of the expenses of the strike for the first three months, and 
 one-half of the expenses for the second three months, and so on after- 
 wards." No colliery or lodge is to be " allowed to strike or cease 
 work except to prevent a reduction of wages," until it has been 
 three months in union with the Association. In the case of an au- 
 thorized strike, 7s. a week are to be paid to every man on ;-trike, 
 and Is. per week to every child under ten. Any colliery oi ledge 
 striking or ceasing work without the consent of the district meeting 
 is to receive no pay from the funds of the Association during the 
 strike. 
 
 The "United Trades' Association of Miners, Salt-makers, and 
 Boatmen of Lancashire and Cheshire," the rules of which were passed 
 June 6th, 1859, as lying out of the districts forming the subject 
 of this report, deserves mention only as one of the most curious 
 results of the strike and lock-out, through the tendency to organi- 
 zation which it developed in the whole of the mining class. The 
 "boatmen," lam bound to say, have since withdrawn from the Asso- 
 ciation. 
 
 The rules of the "Miners' Association, Barnsley District," were 
 revised February 13th, 1860. The objects of the Society are "the 
 securing a proper remuneration for lalsour, and providing an allow- 
 ance on the death of its members;" it is governed by "local lodges 
 and delegate meetings," and includes both coal and iron-stone miners. 
 The members are divided into a first and second class, the former 
 paying Qd. the latter- Zd. per week as contribution. 9d. per fort- 
 night of the first class, 4^d. of the second class, together with the 
 
44 Account of the 
 
 whole of the levies, and three-fourths of the entrance fees, " constitute 
 a labour-defence and funeral fund," applied " to liquidate all expenses 
 arising from lock-outs and strikes, to the support of victims, paying 
 delegates' vi'ages, and all other general and local necessary expenses." 
 No member is to be " eligible to receive relief as a victim" until re- 
 turned as such " by a legal meeting of his own lodge." " No document 
 or other agreement in writing" is to be presented "to employers or 
 their agents " till duly examined'. No lodge is to strike or leave em- 
 ployment without the sanction of the delegate meeting, which fixes 
 " the allowance to lock-outs or members on strike." One-fourth of 
 entrance fees, and 3>d. a fortnight per full member, and \hd. a fort- 
 night per half-member, form " an accident fund," for paying a weekly 
 allowance to all members " incapacitated from following their em- 
 ployment from any accident while at work in or about any colliery or 
 iron-stone mine ;" but no member is to be " allowed to contribute to 
 the accident fund who is not a member of the labour fund." The 
 death allowance is £8 for a member of the first class, and £4 for 
 one of the second. " Special rules, adapted to the peculiar circum- 
 stances of each colliery, must be drawn up by every lodge, such 
 spectal rules to be in strict conformity with the general rules." 
 
 The rules last referred to resemlile in great measure those of the 
 projected general " Miners' Association." * 
 
 * By the kindness of the secretary, Mr. Mitchell, I have been supplied with 
 fortnightly balance-sheets, and minutes of delegate meetings of this District Asso- 
 ciation, which are most valuable as exhibiting the working of a trade society. 
 The balance-sheet for the fortnight ending May 7th, 1860, shows an income of 
 £253 8s. 6rf., contributed by 4,022 members, making, with a balance of £29 2.s. llrf., 
 a total of £282 lis. hd. The expenditure for the fortnight amounts to£183 19s. Wd., 
 leaving a balance to credit of £98 lis. 6c?. Of the expenditure, all but £19 17s. 3d. 
 goes " to victims." Their claims are thus described : — 
 
 No. 1. (Keceiving in all £10 12s.) " have been turned from their work for being 
 active in the cause, i.e. acting as delegates, local secretaries, taking the chair at 
 meetings, &c." 
 
 No. 2. (Receiving £58 17s. fid.) " are on strike for an advance of wages given 
 by our neighbours. These coals have advanced 20 per cent, since September. 
 (See the Times.) The men could get work elsewhere if they could have a proper 
 clearance paper." . . 
 
 No. 3. (Receiving £60 12s. Orf.) "have been locked out, and can get no clear- 
 ance papers of any kind ; so there is no work to be had." 
 
 No. 4. (Receiving £28 3s. 8<^.) " are locked out also," &c. 
 
 In the balance-sheet for the fortnight ending June 4th, 1860, the income falls 
 short of the expenditure. The contributions (£145 17s. lljc^.) with the money 
 in hand (£92 Os.TJf^.) amount only to £237 18s. Id., while the expenditure's 
 £180 Os. 2jd., leaving the balance diminished to £57 18s. 4id. 
 
 The following is a copy of the minutes of the delegate meeting of May 7th, 1860 
 (omitting proper names) . 
 
 " 1. Minutes of last meeting confirmed. 
 
 " 2. (Colliery) to be supported by the Board. 
 
 " 3. In the event of any strike or lock-out, any member or members who may, 
 at the time of such strike or lock-out, be in receipt of accident benefit, shall have 
 no claim on the labour fund until such time as he may be fit to follow his usual 
 employment. 
 
 "4. Vote taken on the question ; decided against the men by a majority of 
 
 twenty-four to twelve. 
 
FFest Yorkshire Coal- Strike and Lock-out. 45 
 
 Apart from the question of wages, the chief economic ground of! 
 contention between the coal-owners and their men appears to be the 
 limitation of the hours of labour. On this point, I cannot but call 
 attention to the somewhat startling statement of the general secretary 
 to the Masters' Association, in the answers by him to the questions 
 put forth by this Committee, that a limitation of hours will rather 
 increase than diminish production. He alleges, as " a fact that can- 
 not be disputed, that the production, under the ' eight hours' ' system 
 that has been introduced into the South Yorkshire District this last 
 twelve months, at some of the largest collieries, is greatly in excess of 
 what was ever produced by an equal number of men when the men 
 worked twelve or thirteen hours." He assigns, as the principal 
 reason for this, "that the young, thoughtless and improvident, as a 
 general rule, have two or three days' spreeing and drinking — what 
 they call pleasure" — during the early part of their "pay" (time of 
 employment), because "they know that they will have the opportunity 
 of working all the hours G-od sends [in] the latter part, to fetch up 
 their lost time." Under the eight hours' system, he continues, "this 
 class are compelled to work regularly, so that the pits would not be 
 thrown idle one, and partly idle one or two days in each pay," but the 
 miners, day-men, and machinery, would have constant and steady 
 employment. Our friend the Employer seems inclined to take the 
 same view, provided the men would work regularly the eight hours. 
 That a limitation of the hours of labour might tend to render the 
 production of coal more steady may be conceded. But it is not of 
 course to be denied, that the general tendency of the men's regula- 
 tions, practices, demands, is, as it always must be, to restrict produc- 
 tion. On the general question of the effects of such a restriction, it 
 
 " 5. A , B , C , D , E , F , G , to be paid from the 
 
 victim fund. 
 
 " 6. A committee of five to be appointed to consider and report to the next 
 meeting on the best means of preventing the making of victims. 
 
 " 7. (j , C , I , K , and L , be the above committee. 
 
 "8. Thia meeting is of opinion, that the presence of Mr. S ■ and Mr. T — — 
 
 in London is essential ; and that each district should pay its proper quota of 
 expenses in proportion to numbers. 
 
 " 9. That the disparity of numbers be taken into consideration in calculating 
 
 the proper sum that each district shall pay towards the expenses of Mr. S 
 
 and Mr. T now in London. 
 
 " 10. That oui- secretary go to see Mr. , Manager of Collieries, with a 
 
 view of sending a portion of our men there. 
 
 "11. A copy of the rules to be forwarded to Colliery, and they be admitted 
 
 according to rule. 
 
 " 12. .5s. to be given to Mr. , as a portion of his expenses. 
 
 "13. 9d. per member to be brought to the next delegate meeting. 
 " The secretary begs to direct the attention of the lodges to rule 24 (new rules), 
 and hopes for a better compliance with its provisions for the future in reference 
 to victims. Good steady workmen can have constant employment at — ■ — , and 
 houses found. The expenses of removing families and effects paid by the pro- 
 prietors. There is no strike at the works, and some of the men told me that 
 ' twenty or thirty of om- Barnsley chaps ' would do no harm, but a deal of good 
 amongst them. 
 
 " (Signed) • ." 
 
46 Account of the 
 
 would be quite out of place for me to enter. But it should not be 
 overlooked, that coal-mining belongs to a peculiar category of em- 
 ployments, those which consist in the extraction of practically unre- 
 newable wealth. Without entering into any calculation as to the rate 
 of exhaustion of our supply of native coal, yet, at a time when we 
 have bound ourselves to allow the freest access to our coal-fields to a 
 neighbour whom, in the same breath, we accuse of unsettling the peace 
 of Europe, it may well be doubted whether, in this instance more 
 than in any other, the public interest does not command us to allow 
 the freest scope to those comparatively trifling checks upon the too 
 rapid destruction of this necessary of our industrial and military life, 
 which the private interest of the miner — no doubt sometimes to the 
 inconvenience of his employers — prompts him to establish. 
 
 VII. Suminary. 
 
 If we sum up the results of this narrative, we shall find them, I 
 think, to be as follows : — 
 
 1. Coal-mining in West Yorkshire has been sought to be regu- 
 lated, on the part of the masters, by an Employers' Association which 
 has existed for the last thirty years; but on the part of the men, by 
 no distinct organization till the year 1853. 
 
 2. In that year, at or about the time of a rise in the price of coal, 
 successive advances of wages were or had to be given, amounting, 
 on the masters' showing, to 30 per cent, where the rise in prices 
 amounted to 45 per cent., or, according to a more probable calculation, 
 to 62i per cent. 
 
 3. Without any formal organization, the men met the rise in prices 
 by a restriction on the earnings of individuals. 
 
 4. There being no restraint on the admission of strangers, and the 
 trade itself being in some of its branches almost an unskilled one, the 
 void thus produced was filled up by labourers from other employ- 
 ments. 
 
 5. Intense competition among masters, and the violation by them 
 of the rules of their own association, at first imderhand, and then 
 openly, led, in spite of the check upon production sought to be 
 exercised by the men, to over-supply and a fall in price. 
 
 6. A portion of the masters sought to meet this, as early as 1855, 
 by a considerable reduction of wages, which, however, did not suc- 
 ceed except in the Gildersome district. 
 
 7. The fall in prices having attained to a crisis in 1858, the Mas- 
 ters' Association sought to eifect a simultaneous reduction of wages, 
 to the extent of 15 per cent., supporting it by a resolution of mutual 
 help in case of strikes, — G-ildersome district, on the contrary, it is said, 
 now advancing wages. 
 
 8. To resist this reduction, was formed a Miners' Association, at 
 first local in West Yorkshire, and partial strikes were organized 
 against individual masters, the men on strike being maintained by 
 those at work ; the Masters' Association in like manner supporting 
 the masters struck against. 
 
 9. These partial strikes having lasted for some months, the Mas- 
 
West Yorkshire Coal-Strike and Lock-out. 47 
 
 ters' Association decided on a general " lock-out," or closing of all 
 the pits, in case the men should not accept the 15 per cent, reduction, 
 submit to all colliery regulations, and break up their Union. 
 
 10. The terms were not acceded to by the men. Attempts to 
 bring about an accommodation, made by clergymen, magistrates, 
 merchants, and willingly received by the men, were rejected by the 
 Masters' Association. 
 
 11. The Men's Association was now sought to be enlarged so as 
 to embrace the whole of the United Kingdom. 
 
 12. Eventually, a proposal to resume work at 71 per cent, redud- 
 tion on wages, the other demands of the Masters' Association being ' 
 set aside, was accepted by one employer, and afterwards acceded to 
 by the rest. 
 
 13. The whole of the 7 J per cent, reduction thus submitted to has 
 since been recovered ; and that while prices were even lower than 
 when the 15 per cent, was sought to be enforced. 
 
 14. The results of the strike and of their trade organization are 
 therefore reckoned by the men to be a victory over the ^employers 
 on all points. 
 
 15. Both the masters' and the men's associations remain on foot. 
 The latter, although they have failed to realize that general organization 
 Tvhich was attempted, yet, from the mere support of a strike, have 
 risen to the consideration and agitation of the largest questions affect- 
 ing the miners' calling throughout the country ; hours of labour, 
 education of children, ventilation, inspection, special training of 
 managers, apprenticeship. 
 
 To the Honourable the House of Commons of Great Britain 
 and Ireland, in Parliament assembled. 
 The Humble Petition of the undersigned Workers in the Coal and 
 
 Iron-stone Mines of Great Britain, 
 Sheweth, 
 
 That your Petitioners are deeply sensible of the benefits which 
 have resulted from the statutes passed by your Honourable House 
 for the Inspection of Coal Mines, and for the prohibition of females 
 and young persons under the age of ten years from working in 
 Coal Mines, and are anxious that the same may be extended to 
 iron-stone mines. 
 
 That as the present Act for the Inspection of Coal Mines will ex- 
 pire in the Session ending I860, your Petitioners humbly submit 
 that it would be for the benefit of the Mining j)opulation to increase 
 the number of inspectors, and also to appoint a sufficient number 
 of sub-inspectors, to meet the great increase in mining operations, 
 and to add to their powers under the next enactment, in order to 
 lesson the numerous accidents that from time to time occur in mines. 
 
 That it would be beneficial to give the power of laying criminal 
 information, or any other powers that may seem meet to your 
 Honourable House to promote efficiency ; and also, the training 
 
48 Account of the 
 
 schools be established for the purpose of educating miners, so that 
 they may become skilled and competent to undertake the management 
 
 of mines. 
 
 That your Petitioners humbly submit, that your Honourable 
 House consider the propriety of prohibiting the employment of 
 females on the banks or pit heads of mines. 
 
 That your Petitioners humbly submit, that the practice of employ- 
 ing boys in mines from the age of ten to fourteen years, for more 
 than eight hours per day, does not aiFord sufficient opportunity for 
 obtaining an adequate amount of education, and is also the main 
 'cause of the low social condition of the miners in general. 
 
 Your Petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that some provisions 
 may be introduced into the ne:tt Bill for the education of the young 
 employed in mines from the age of ten to fourteen years. 
 
 Tour Petitioners also humbly pray, that a clause may be inserted 
 in the new Act, providing for a fair system of vs^eighing the miners' 
 material on the pit bank, and thereby put a stop to the constant 
 disputes that, from this cause, too often occur between employers 
 and employed. 
 
 And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &c. 
 
 The Operative Coal Miners of England and Scotland, to the 
 Honourable Members of the Commons House of Parliameiit, 
 beg most respectfully to represent — 
 
 That, by the census of 1851, the numbers engaged in Coal Mining 
 were 220,000 ; since which there has been a very large increase in 
 that employment. 
 
 That the operation of Coal Mining, as now conducted, is seriously 
 detrimental to the life and health of those employed in it, so that 
 while, according to the Eegistrar-General's return, the average life of 
 the whole community reaches 33.4 years, that of the collier is only 27. 
 
 There are two causes directly operating to produce this fatal result : — 1st, 
 accidents, from which, "for the last eigli,t years, the average has been 1,015 
 yearly, or four to the thousand — eight or teu times above the general average of 
 deaths by violence from dangerous occupations" [see paper on the " Loss of Life 
 in Coal Mines," by F. H. Holland, Esq., vol. iii. page 134, Transactions of the 
 Association of Social Science] ; and 2nd, the injurious and unhealthy nature of 
 the employment itself. RadclifTs tables of the amount of sickness throughout 
 Great Britain shows that the average sickness from 21 to 60 years is but 25 
 weeks, while that of Coal Miners average 97 weeks, or 67 per cent, more than 
 the general average, during the same period. 
 
 That though it is not likely accidents can be entirely avoided — or 
 even the general average of life and health obtained in mining ope- 
 rations, — yet, by proper arrangements of machinery and other appli- 
 ances, and working, and by scientific and efficient operation of ven- 
 tilation and management, at least one-half of all accidents might be 
 entirely avoided ; the health of all engaged might bo greatly im- 
 proved ; and most of the lives, ho valuable and important, definitely 
 prolonged. 
 
fVest Yorkshire Coal- Strike and Lock-out. 49 
 
 The opinion here expressed will commend itself at once to all who know the 
 nature of mining, and the defective and unscientific modes of working common 
 in many places. This is not, however, a matter of opinion, for in the paper by 
 Mr. Holland, before alluded to, it is shown that in I^orthumberland and Durham 
 (where one-fourth of the coal is raised, and one-fifth of the miners employed) , a 
 better system of management is carried out than elsewhere — the machinery is 
 better planned, and the ventilation more efiScient — and the result is, that " out 
 of a total of 248 deaths from explosion, per annum, the north has only 21 ; and, 
 therefore, if the average loss of life was reduced by equal care, it might, by the 
 average of the north, be that the 1,984 killed during the last eight years would have 
 been only 845 ; that is to say, 1,139 lives have been needlessly thrown away, 
 and 142 might be annually saved by the precautions now used in one district, 
 in explosions alone." The same results apply still more strongly to the deaths ' 
 from falling-in of the roofs ; from accidents in shafts, iScc. [Space alone pre- 
 venting the illustrations, see page 736, vol. iii.. Social Science Transactions ; and 
 also a paper read before the Society of Arts by the same gentleman.] The de- 
 leterious influence upon health, in the unanimous opinion of all medical men, 
 consists in the eifect of working in a confined, hot, dusty, and unhealthy gaseous 
 atmosphere ; in the excessive labour necessary ; and in the long hours of work- 
 ing. These soon wear out the strongest men, and induce the sickness and mor- 
 tality previously named. That the hard labour can be greatly altered, is not at 
 present probable ; but the time of working can be altered, and consequently the 
 evil effect may be reduced, to great advantage. In proof of this opinion, see the 
 paper " On the physical effects of diminished labour," by Robert Baker, Esq., 
 Factory Inspector [page 553, 3rd vol. of Social Science Transactions] while all 
 scientific and medical men agree that a proper system of ventilation would not 
 only prevent explosions, but would greatly tend to promote health, and strengthen 
 and prolong life, in the young and adult operatives thus engaged. 
 
 That the present Inspection Act of Mines was brought into ope- 
 ration in 1855, and will expire this 1860 ; its object being the pre- 
 servation of the lives, and improvement in the condition of the 
 miners in general ; but that the conditions, mechanical and sanitary, 
 now required by law, are very unequally and inefficiently enforced ; 
 and that the results are injurious and unsatisfactory accordingly. 
 
 TheAct passed in 1852, for the " Inspection of Mines," has proved beneficial 
 and highly satisfactory, so far as it has been carried out. This is proved by the 
 unanimous testimony of all the workmen engaged ; but that it is not worked 
 efficiently, or that it is not properly planned, may be judged by the great differ- 
 ences of results in different localities, even where the conditions of danger are 
 not naturally so imminent — as in Durham and the North. In Yorkshire, the 
 average of deaths from accident has been 86-4 during the last eight years (vary- 
 ing from 47 to 245) — a much larger proportion than is proved to be necessary in 
 the case of the North. "While the average of lives of miners in England is 27 
 years, and in some places much lower, at Rothwell it only reaches 21. At Ince, 
 intheWigan Union, Lancashire (for five years, by the Registrar's report), it 
 was but 17 years. The case of Ince being exceptional from explosion, that 
 of Rothwell, near Leeds, in Yorkshire, is worthy of attention. There was no 
 serious accidents or explosions occurring ; and two other (chiefly agricultural) 
 villages, within two miles, reached an average of better than 30 years at death 
 during the same period. [See Almanack of Social Science, I860.] The fatality 
 here indicated, doubtless results from want of proper arrangements and conse- 
 quent habits in the pits ; to secure which, there is either not a proper system of 
 working laid down, or it is clearly not carried out. Experienced persons say 
 that both is the case, viz. : That the Inspection Act is defective in regulations 
 and powers to carry out ; and the Inspectors are not sufficient in number to be 
 able to perform the duty properly, if inclined. 
 
 The operative miners engaged in this hazardous, hard, but neces- 
 
 E 
 
50 Account of the 
 
 sary mode of emplovment, nre fully conscious of the evils the}' suffer; 
 and believing that it is in the power of Parliament, by general regu- 
 lation, to ameliorate much of the evils they endure, have most ear- 
 nestly to suggest, in the renewal of tl\e Inspection Act, that better 
 provisions may be made for the attainment of these most desirable 
 and humane objects. 
 
 1. For arranging, checking, and inspecting the mechanical work- 
 ing in shafts and mines. 
 
 2. For providing and securing a continuous and efficient system 
 of ventilation. And ■ 
 
 3. For limiting the average vrorking of coal-mines to eight hours 
 per day, to all employed under fourteen years of age. 
 
 Besides the natural evils before instanced, for the remedying of which the 
 ahove regulations are solicited, miners have to contend with several conven- 
 tional arrangements, which, as now worked, are seriously detrimental to their 
 physical and moral well-being. 
 
 There is no legal or regulated system of weighing or measuring worli done. 
 Colliers are paid by measure, which, at the pleasure of the masters or their agents, 
 is often checlied or forfeited upon most frivolous pretences ; and thus the opera- 
 tives are defrauded of thousands of pounds annuallj'. 
 
 In many instances, the system of truct in goods and drink is worked by stewards 
 and butties, so that the operative has to pay high prices for inferior articles ; and 
 is induced and compelled to drink, or to lose work and wage, to the moral and 
 social detriment of themselves and families. 
 
 The employers have latterly established codes of bye-laws of a most arbitrary, 
 oppressive, and imjust nature, which they carry out at pleasure, by heavy fines or 
 imprisonment ; and in many cases, being magistrates, they sit upon the bench and 
 adjudicate In their own questions and interests. 
 
 These growing evils, seriously injurious to the operative miner, tend to pro- 
 duce disaffection and unsettled habits ; and, by promoting and engenderino' ill- 
 ■will, they give rise to contentions and strikes, and many other evils, detrimental 
 to all concerned and the public weal. It is, therefore, most respectfully 
 submitted : — 
 
 4. Tliat no code of bye-laws shall be legal which are not framed 
 on equitable and mutual principles — whether relating to fines or 
 regulations, betwixt masters and men. 
 
 o. That laws relating to the truck system be strengthened and 
 enforced by the Inspectors — workmen having the power to inform. 
 
 6. That a fair and equitable system of weighing and measm'ino- 
 mining works be instituted by law, subject to fines for breach, and 
 placed under inspection. 
 
 7. For increased power to ]uinish breaches of these regulations by 
 penal powers, whether against principals or subordinates, as well as 
 of fining (in such degree as may constitute ample punishment) for 
 neglect. 
 
 8. For systemising and increasing the means of inspection, so as 
 to obtain efficient operation. And, lastly, — 
 
 9. As all experience has proved that no permanent improvement 
 can be achieved without a corresponding advance in knowledge, in- 
 telligence, and habits, the operative miners, above all, desire that a 
 good sound system of intellectual, social, and moral education may be 
 provided for their children and youth of both sexes, to be carried out 
 
West Yorkshire Coal- Strike and Lock-out. 51 
 
 upon the principles of the Factories Act Education Clauses, or in 
 such way as may secure to the rising generation the knowledge felt 
 by them to be so essential to all future social progression. 
 
 Believing that these things can be sooner, better, more economically, 
 and peacefully carried out and secured by public legislation, than by 
 private enterprise, or by individual or local contention; knowing, in 
 fact, that however many good and humane employers would be will- 
 ing to eifect the measures desirable, that the selfish, ignorant, and 
 indisposed would negative any such intentions ; and believing that 
 the end to be attained would not only justify the means, but amply 
 — in order, peace, and economy — repay all necessary expenditure ; 
 and that general good and public advantage would extensively result 
 £See Mr. Holland's paper throughout] : we most earnestly and re- 
 spectfully direct the attention of Members of our Honourable Legisla- 
 ture to these facts and suggestions, with a view of securing a good, 
 sound, and lasting measure of law, in the renewed Inspection Act ; 
 so would the blessings of thousands of hard-working miners be 
 showered upon their friends, and the future generations would admire 
 the wisdom and humanity of those who would secure and promote 
 health, longevity, and the means of happiness, lo the operative miners 
 of Great Britain. 
 
 {Signed by order of the Miners' Deputation) 
 
 Allen Tetlow, Chairman. 
 
 EiCHAKD Mitchell, Secretary. 
 
 6, Agar Street, Strand, Feb. 22, 1860. 
 
ACCOUNT OE THE STRIKE AND LOCK-OUT 
 
 IN THE 
 
 BUILDnGl TRADES OF LONDON, 
 
 IN 1859-60. 
 
 PKEPAEED rOK 
 
 CIjc WatiDnal Association &r tfjc promotion of Social Science, 
 
 AT THE REQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE ON TKADES' SOCIETIES. 
 
 BY 
 
 G. SHAW LEFEVRE and THOMAS R. BENNET. 
 
 Befoee proceeding to give a detailed account of tlie Strike and 
 Lock-out in the Building Trades of London, of 1859-60, it will be 
 well shortly to describe the condition of the trade previous to the 
 breaking out of the Strike, and the relative positions of the masters 
 and their workmen. 
 
 Under the term Building Trades are generally included the four 
 principal trades, — bricklayers, masons, plasterers, carpenters, and 
 joiners ; and the five subordinate trades, — smiths, slaters, painters, 
 plumbers, and glaziers. These subordinate trades ai'e, however, only 
 considered as part of the building trades when they are carried on 
 in connexion with one or more of the former. 
 
 There are about 550 Masters in London, of whom not more than 
 100 carry on the four principal and some one or more of the subordinate 
 trades ; the remainder are ready to take a contract to do all the work 
 in any building ; they employ mechanics and labourers themselves 
 for the four principal trades, and sub-let the rest of the work. 
 These 450 masters are said to employ an average of 20 men. Of the 
 remaining masters — 
 
 Fifty employ 100 men = 5,000 
 
 Twenty-five ... „ 200 „ = 5,000 
 
 Ten „ 300 „ =3,000 
 
 Eight „ 500 „ =4,000 
 
 Four „ 700 „ =2,800 
 
 Six „ 1,500 „ = 9,000 
 
 28,800 ; 
 which, added to the 9,000 employed by the other 450 masters, make 
 in round numbers 38,000 as the number of workmen in the trade. 
 
 It must be noticed, however, that there ai'e very large numbers of 
 men carrying on the subordinate branches of trade, and employing 
 limited numbers of workmen. 
 
 The workmen are divided into skilled and unskilled, or labourers. 
 
54 Account of the 
 
 The last number about 12,000, and are in receipt of wages from 18*. 
 to 21*. per week. They are generally members of benefit societies 
 reo'istered under the Friendly Societies Act, but are not combined or 
 organized in distinct trade societies or unions. 
 
 Of the skilled workmen, the masons in London number from 800 
 to 1,000, of whom about 500 belong to a trade society, organized 
 throughout the country, and acting under a central authority. 
 
 The bricklayers number about 5,000, and of these 3,000 are 
 members of the bricklayers' trade union, which is confined to the 
 metropolis. 
 
 The cai-penters and joiners are in number about 13,000, of whom 
 7,000 are said to be members of different trade societies, which at 
 the present time are about fort}- in number, but are gradually being 
 absorbed into one central union. 
 
 The plasterers are 4,000 in number, 2,000 of whom are members 
 of a trade society, which has Ijranches throughout the country. 
 
 The remaining skilled workmen are divided amongst the other 
 five trades, of whom the smiths, plumbers and painters have each 
 their distinct trades' unions. 
 
 In all these trades the skilled workmen were in receipt of 5s. Qd. 
 for a day of ten hours, with a cessation of work on Saturday at four 
 o'clock, though receiving full pay for that day. 
 
 The Master Builders' Society was founded in the year 1834, for 
 mutual defence, and for the interchange of useful information ; but 
 j)revious to the outbreak of the Strike in 1859, it consisted of but 
 few members. 
 
 The agitation which led indirectly to the strike commenced nearly 
 seven years ago. 
 
 In the spring of 1853 a movement was begun by the masons to 
 shorten the hoars of labour. At that time their wages were 5s. a 
 day. The carpenters and joiners took part with them in the move- 
 ment, but as they preferred receiving an increase of wages, the move- 
 ment was abandoned on the masters giving an extra 6d. a day. 
 
 In the autumn of 1857 the question was again opened, and the 
 carpenters and joiners appointed delegates from about fifty different 
 establishments, and on June 3rd, 1858, they held an aggregate meet- 
 ing in Exeter Hall, when the following memorial was drawn up 
 and presented to the Master Builders' Society. 
 
 " To the Master Builders and Employers of Carpenters and 
 Joiners of London and its Vicinity. 
 
 " Gentlemen, — At an aggregate meeting of the trade, held in 
 Exeter Hall, on June 3rd, 1858, it was unanimously resolved that a 
 memorial should be presented to you, asking you to reduce the hours 
 of labour from ten to nine hours per day, ivith the present rate of 
 wages. 
 
 " The reason why we ask this of you is, we believe the time has 
 come when there must be a better equalization of the hours of labour, 
 in consequence of the great increase both of population and machi- 
 
Strike and Lock-out in the Building Trades of London. 5$ 
 
 neiy ; we are not opposed to machinery, but we are of opinion that 
 the working classes ought to reap some benefit from its extensive 
 introduction, and the benefit we wisli is a mitigation of the liours of 
 labour: 
 
 " We also think that reducing our labour one hour per day would 
 be a great boon to society in general, and would have a beneficial 
 tendency to those employed in promoting their moral and social 
 condition. 
 
 " Gentlemen, the object of this memorial is to respectfully request 
 you to concede to us the privilege of working nine hours per day, 
 instead often (as at present). We wish this alteration to take place 
 without any diminution in the present rate of wages ; should you 
 grant us this boon, it will produce and promote a better feeling 
 between employer and employed, for long hours of labour are detri- 
 mental to both. Hoping you will consider this question as employers 
 of labour belonging to a great country which is held up as a model 
 for the admiration of the world, 
 
 " We are, G-entlemen, 
 " Yours respectfully, on behalf of the Trade Delegates, 
 " The Comjiittee. 
 
 " G-EOEGE PoTTEE, Secretary." 
 
 On the 26th of August the masters received a deputation from 
 the carpenters and joiners at the Freemasons' Tavern. There were 
 present on that occasion twelve of the largest employers in London, 
 and nine operatives. The operatives having stated their case, with- 
 drew, and the masters then passed the following resolutions. 
 
 "That the question, although raised by the carpenters and joiners, 
 is really a question involving all trades. 
 
 " That inasmuch as there is no compulsion by which workmen are 
 obliged to labour for a given number of hours, it really amounts to 
 an alteration in the rate of wages. 
 
 " That within the last four or five years the price of skilled labour 
 has been advanced ten per cent., and that it does not appear to this 
 meeting that there is anything in the circumstances of the present 
 times to warrant a further increase to the extent suggested. 
 
 " That looking at the very large amount of the interests involved, 
 not only as regards the building trades, but obviously even beyond 
 these bounds, this meeting does not feel that they can accede to the 
 request made, and they come to this resolution with the best possible 
 feeling of good- will to the workmen ; and they are bound to say, that 
 the manner in which this question has been brought forward and 
 discussed is very creditable to those who have appeared as its 
 advocates." 
 
 Copies of these resolutions were given to the deputation. 
 
 In the mean time the masons had begun again to agitate, but this 
 time they asked for the Saturday half-holiday. They made a request 
 for this on the 1st of June, 1858, but on the refusal of the masters 
 they gave it up, and joined with the carpenters and joiners in the 
 nine hours' movement. The two trades jointly sent a delegate to 
 
56 Account of the 
 
 the bricklayers, and tlie result was, that a Conference met in Sep- 
 tember, consisting of seven members of each of the three trades. 
 
 This Conference drew up a memorial, which was signed by the 
 Chairman and Secretary of each of these three trades, and presented 
 to the masters on the 18th of November. 
 
 " To the Master Builders of London and its Vicinity. 
 
 " Gentle3ien, — We, the operative carpenters and joiners, stone 
 masons and bricklayers, beg to lay before you this memorial, pray- 
 ing for a reduction in the hours of labour. 
 
 " From daily experience in our avocations, we are convinced that 
 owing to excessive hours of labour our worth as artisans is depre- 
 ciated, both in a mental and physical point of view. 
 
 " We justify ourselves in taking this position on the ground of our 
 having an equal right to share with other workers that large amount 
 of public sympp,thy which is being now so widely extended in the 
 direction of shortening the hours of labour. 
 
 " The fact is well known that the present hours are too many to 
 afford either rest from exhaustion or time to improve the intellect, 
 so as to acquire the knowledge and skill requisite for the rapid pro- 
 gress of invention; that continuous exertion without recreation must 
 engender those evils we deplore; that owing to this continuous exer- 
 tion, premature incapability must necessarily epsue, whereby our 
 value in the field of labour is materially affected, and we ourselves 
 are eventually left a heavy burden upon the public. 
 
 " Further, Gentlemen, your memorialists regard this question as a 
 purely public one : a question which does not in the remotest degree 
 affect the employers' profits, other than as it has a tendency to in- 
 crease them ; and the public, benefiting as it does by the introduction 
 of machinery, will not, we feel assured, deny to us under your sanc- 
 tion a like participation. 
 
 "The object we are desirous of attaining by this memorial is, a 
 concession from our employers of one hour per day, and the present 
 rate of wages to continue ; by such a concession you will relieve your 
 memorialists from the evils they at present suffer, and yourselves 
 from those future evils consequent upon our own. 
 
 " We beg leave also to suggest, that the employers will do well to 
 have regard in all future contracts to the nine hours per day, for we 
 are so sanguine as to consider the consummation of our desire inevitable. 
 
 "Trusting, Gentlemen, that our memorial will receive that con- 
 sideration which is due to our wants, is the wish of yours respect- 
 fully, the carpenters and joiners, stone masons and bricklayers. 
 
 " Signed on behalf of the Trade Committees :- 
 
 ' Carpenters and Joiners . | Matthew Benn, Chavrman. 
 
 (. George Potter, Secretary. 
 
 "Stone Masons .... I ^"^^'i^^*'''' o' f^^'"'™''^- 
 
 IK. W. Grey, Secretary. 
 
 "BricMayers f William Blackburn, CAmV»»a«. 
 
 ■^ I Henry Tdeep, Secretary." 
 
Strike and Lock-out in the Building Trades of London. 57 
 
 A copy of tliis memorial was sent to every master builder in 
 London. 
 
 The Builders' Society again met, and after consideration, agreed in 
 reply to refer the memorialists to the above resolutions of the 26th 
 of August. 
 
 About a month after this, the painters and plasterers joined in the 
 movement, making altogether five trades, all of v^hom were thence- 
 forward represented each by seven members at the Conference. 
 
 Another application was then made to the masters, to know if 
 they would receive a deputation from the five United Building 
 Trades. The answer to that was sent in a letter dated December 
 10th, 1858, which stated that the masters adhered to their former 
 resolutions on the subject, and considered that no new facts or state- 
 ments had been brought forward which had not been thoroughly 
 argued in the preceding August, and they declined to receive a 
 deputation. 
 
 On the 26th of January, 1859, the building trade held another 
 meeting in Exeter Hall, and a resolution was passed to ask for a 
 definite answer from the masters. 
 
 On the 19th of March the following letter was sent to the master 
 builders. 
 
 " To the Members of the Master Builders' Society. 
 
 "Gentlemen, — We, the Conference of the Building Trades, amal- 
 gamated fertile purpose of attaining the nine hours per day, deem it 
 expedient once more to communicate with you on the issue in ques- 
 tion. You are doubtless fully aware of the whole of our proceedings 
 since we last addressed you, and these proceedings we are convinced 
 cannot fail to have their due weight with yourselves. Supported 
 as our cause is by the public press, acknowledged favourably by the 
 Association of Architects, advocated from the pulpit, and our own 
 energetic and persevering efforts, it cannot fail to call for your entire 
 approval. 
 
 " Your resolutions submitted to us do not express any thing defi- 
 nite ; but to enter into debate on this question by letter would be 
 next to impossible, and is not our intention. 
 
 "This much we may be allowed to say, that we consider this 
 movement has been agitated long enough to entitle us to claim 
 either your sanction or rejection. 
 
 " And not doubting that it has been discussed in your Association, 
 we respectfully request an answer from your meeting, whether you 
 will consider the nine hours as a day's work. Yes or no. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, on behalf of the Conference, 
 " Yours most respectfully, 
 
 " Geohge Pottek, Secretary. 
 "I9th March, 1859." 
 
 An answer to this was returned, that a meeting of the Metro- 
 politan Builders would be convened by the masters to consider the 
 subject. 
 
58 Account of the 
 
 This meetiug was held on the 20th of April, and attended by 
 Jibout seventy masters, including those who were, as well as those 
 who were not, members of the Association. 
 
 The following resolutions were passed unanimously. 
 
 " Moved by Mr. Charles Lucas, and seconded by Mr. Myers : — 
 
 " That in the opinion of this meeting it is not expedient to accede to 
 the request of the workmen contained in their letter of the 19th March, 
 becau.se the present arrangement of hours is the most convenient to 
 all parties, and does not involve such an amount of time as to bring 
 the building workmen at all within the limit of those on whose behalf 
 the public interest has been excited, and its benevolence aroused 
 (the hours being from six in the morning to half-past five in the after- 
 noon, with one hour and a half interval for meals) ; and because much 
 j)ublic inconvenience would result from the discontinuance of work 
 at so early an hour as half-past four, involving, as it would do, the 
 stoppage of all machinery, plant, and cattle, at an early hour. 
 
 "Moved by Mr. Dummage (of the firm of W. Cubitt and Co.), and 
 seconded by Mr. Kelk :— 
 
 "That if the builders were to admit the principle sought for by 
 the workmen, they would take upon themselves the responsibility 
 of taxing the public more than 10 jser cent., and establish a regula- 
 tion which must necessarily govern labour and its value with all 
 other trades throughout the country ; that, acting upon this impres- 
 sion, this meeting records its opinion that there is no suflBcient rea- 
 son at this time to justify such an advance as is demanded by what 
 is called the nine hours' movement. During the past few years the 
 desire of the master builders to meet every reasonable, demand has 
 been evinced by the fact that they have given up, without reduction 
 of wages, one hour and a half on each Saturday afternoon, and so lately 
 as the year 1853 they agreed to an advance of 10 per cent, on the 
 wages then paid, by reason of which the skilled workman on an 
 average now receives 33s. for 58j hours' labour. 
 
 " That for these reasons, amongst others, it is the opinion of this 
 meeting that the request for nine hours, to be paid for as ten hours, 
 ought not to be acceded to." 
 
 About this time the labourers of the various building trades joined 
 the Conference, and seven of their body were appointed delegates, 
 making up the number of the Conference to forty-two. 
 
 On the 11th of May another meeting of the building trade was 
 held in Exeter Hall, and the Conference were again instructed to 
 communicate with the master builders. On the 26th of May the fol- 
 lowing ultimatum was sent by Mr. Potter on their account. 
 
 "an ultimatum. 
 
 " To the Members of the Master Builders' Association. 
 
 " Gentlejiex, — At a large meeting of the Building Trades held in 
 
 Exeter Hall on the 18th instant, your resolutions were discussed, and 
 
 after deep consideration we were unable to see that you have definitely 
 
 answered our letter of March 19th, and we are unwilling to believe that 
 
Strike and Lock-out in the Building Trades of London. 59 
 
 you seriously entertain the intention of taking on yourselves the 
 responsibility of causing the public disaster which was threatened 
 by several of your body at your meeting on the 20th April. 
 
 " We therefore, being influenced by the most friendly feelings, 
 once more appeal to you to consider our claim, and we respectfully 
 request a decisive answer from your meeting on the 9th June next, 
 whether you will concede the nine hours as a day's work. 
 " I remain. Gentlemen yours respectfully, 
 
 " On behalf of the United Trades, 
 
 "Geo. Potter, Secretary." 
 
 The following reply was sent by the order of the Builders' Society. 
 
 " June 10th, 1859. 
 
 " Sir, — Your letter of the 26th May was laid before the Builders' 
 Society yesterday, and I am desired to remind you, that when you ad- 
 dressed to this Society your letter of 19th March, the Society felt that 
 the question was too important to be dealt with by them, and it was 
 therefore determined to convene a meeting of the Builders of the 
 Metropolis. This meeting was held on the 20th April. Your letter 
 was submitted to the consideration of that meeting, and the resolu- 
 tions then unanimously passed were forwarded to you in due course 
 ■ — that it appears to this Society, that the concluding paragraph of 
 those resolutiotis does very distinctly answer the request contained 
 in your letter of the 19th March, and repeated in that of the 
 26th May. 
 
 "I am desired further to say that no "threat' has been held out, 
 and should any such 'public disaster' occur, as that to which you 
 allude, the responsibility must rest with those who nfay occasion it. 
 
 " I am, Sir, yours obediently, 
 " Geo. Waxes, Secretary to Builders' Society. 
 " To Mr. Geo. Potter." 
 
 The Conference then consulted their respective trades, to whom 
 they put two questions : — 
 
 1. Whether the question should be postponed. 
 
 2. Whether it should be mooted that autumn. 
 
 A majority decided in favour of an immediate attempt to obtain the 
 nine hours, and it was determined to send a memorial to five firms, 
 viz. ; Messrs. TroUope, DoAvnes, Brown and Robinson, M'Clelland 
 and Bird, and Holland and Allen— whose names were selected by 
 chance out of a hat. Of these, three only were members of the 
 Masters' Association. The list was afterwards reduced to four firms, 
 by striking out Messrs. Holland and Allen, with whom it was thought 
 not advisable to interfere, as they were involved at the time in a strike 
 with their bricklayers. A deputation from the Conference met the 
 workmen of these four firms, and aided them in drawing up memorials 
 ■ to their respective masters. These were as follows. 
 
 " GENTLEMEisr, — We, the men in your employ, consider that the 
 time has arrived when some alteration in the hours of labour is 
 necessary; and having determined that the reduction of the present 
 
60 Account of the 
 
 working day to uine hours, at the present rate of wages, asked for 
 by the building trades during a public agitation of eighteen months, 
 would meet our present requirements, we respectfully solicit you to 
 concede the nine hours as a day's work. A definite answer to our 
 request is solicited by the 23rd day of July, 1859." 
 
 The memorials were presented to these four firms by one of each 
 of the building trades. Amongst those who presented it to Messrs. 
 TroUope, was a mason named Joseph Pacey. Whether he delivered 
 it to Messrs. Trollope personally, or left it for them at their place of 
 business, is a matter of dispute between the masters and the men. 
 
 Messrs. Trollope say it was given them by a clerk ; the men allege 
 that the deputation presented it. Both agree that Messrs. Trollope 
 received it on the 16th of July. On the 20th of July, Joseph Pacey 
 was discharged, in consequence, it is asserted by the men, of his having 
 formed one of the deputation. Messrs. Trollope admit the discharge, 
 but assign neglect of work as the reason for it. 
 
 In the memorial to Messrs. Trollope, the men required a definite 
 answer to their memorial by the 23rd of July, but on the 21st, 
 before that time expired, the masons in Messrs. Trollopes' employ 
 struck in consequence of the discharge of Pacey On the 22nd, the 
 Conference met, approved the proceedings of the masons, and deter- 
 mined that all the men at Trollopes' should be called out. 
 
 It apjiears that it was not originally intended by the Conference 
 to commence the strike at Messrs. Trollopes', but to select by ballot 
 at which of the four firms it should commence, but this intention was 
 frustrated by the events just narrated. 
 
 The Conference then circulated the following notice : — 
 
 " NINE hours' movement. 
 
 " Important Notice to the Operatives of the Building Trade. 
 
 " The Master Builders having refused to concede the nine hours as 
 a day's work, the Conference of the United Building Trades have been 
 directed by the members of the movement to call upon a firm to 
 cease work; having done so, they now appeal to you to aid them in 
 supporting the men now on strike at Messrs. Trollopes'. It is 
 earnestly hojied that no workmen will go in to supplant them till 
 they have gained their object. It is expected that every man will 
 do his duty. 
 
 " By order of the Executive, 
 
 " George Potteb, Secretary.'" 
 
 The strike having thus commenced, a public meeting of the 
 Metropolitan Builders was convened on the 27th of July, at the 
 Freemasons' Tavern, at which nearly two hundred of the principal 
 members of the London Building Trade attended. The following 
 letter was presented at the meeting : — 
 
 " Pavioes' Aems, Westminster, July 21th, 1859. 
 
 " SiE, — As a meeting of the Master Builders of the metropolis is 
 convened for to-day, to consider the question of the nine hours, I 
 
Strike and Lock-out in the Building Trades of London. 61 
 
 think it right that they should be informed why the firm of Messrs. 
 Trollope and Sons was the first firm selected for the men to cease 
 work; the reason being that one of the deputation presenting the 
 memorial was discharged on Wednesday last at a quarter past five. 
 This so irritated the men working at that job, that they ceased work 
 the next day, without consulting the Conference of the nine hours' 
 movement. When the Conference met on the following Friday, 
 to settle which should be the firm selected, the members felt so in- 
 sulted at Messrs. TroUopes' conduct, that it was decided by a very 
 large majority, that the remainder of the men should be called out 
 for the nine hours per day. You are respectfully requested to read 
 this at the meeting of the Master Builders this day. 
 
 " I remain, on behalf of the United Trades, 
 
 " Geoege Pottee, Secretary. 
 " Mr. Wales, Secretary of the Builders' Society." 
 Complaints were then made by tlie members of the trade, of the 
 tyranny and dictation of the Trades' Unions, and a firm determination 
 was announced to liberate the trade from the thraldom with which it 
 was threatened by a strike which, it was felt, was intended to take 
 every employer in detail, after Messrs. Trollope had been prostrated 
 in the struggle. 
 
 After much discussion, it was resolved, " That the metropolitan 
 builders are compelled to close their establishments on the 6th of 
 August; but taking into consideration the great number of men who 
 wholly discountenance the Conference, a Committee of twenty be 
 appointed to consider the best means of opening the doors to such 
 men as may be willing to come to work, independent of, and not 
 subject to, the dictation of any society interfering with the labour of 
 the working man." 
 
 A Committee was then appointed, which at an adjourned meeting, 
 held on the 1 st of August, presented the following report. 
 
 " Your Committee consider it desirable to preface a report of their 
 proceedings by a brief record of the origin and causes of their con- 
 stitvition. 
 
 " A large proportion of operatives connected with the building 
 trade have been associated in various societies, primarily for the 
 purpose of making mutual provision for the ordinary vicissitudes 
 incident to their position. Provident co-operation for the attainment 
 of some security against the many fortuities to which their condition 
 is liable, is not merely unobjectionable, but laudable ; and is at all 
 events solely their own concern, mth which the rest of the commu- 
 nity have no right to interfere. 
 
 "But these associated bodies have not rested content with the 
 pursuit of these praiseworthy objects. They have taken the oppor- 
 tunity of their union, from time to time to invade the rights of their 
 employers? and control the actions of their fellow- workmen ; and by 
 their formidable combination, they have sometimes succeeded in dic- 
 tating to masters and to men the conditions of service, the terms of 
 employment, even the very mechanical economy of the establishments 
 
62 Account of the 
 
 conuected with their calling. Various ill-considered and pernicious 
 concessions to the turbulent and exacting spirit of these associations 
 have been wrung from the employers and the independent operatives, 
 until union has risen to conspiracy — strength has tempted power to 
 proceed to intimidation, and dictation has been aggravated to the 
 peremptoriness of an intolerable tyranny. 
 
 •' At last, not contented with this progressive exaction of more 
 wages for less work, the Conference of the united building trades 
 has issued the following announcement." (See p. 60.) 
 
 " The reasons which are made the premises of this conclusion are 
 thus stated by the Conference : — 
 
 " ' We ask a reduction of the working day from ten hours to nine, 
 and the present rate of wages to continue. The applying of machi- 
 nery to all the pursuits of human industry has, to a great extent, 
 rendered the demand for manual labour unnecessary. In our own 
 particular trade it already rips the material, ploughs, mortises, and 
 tenons, and does everything except the bare putting together ; and 
 we are warranted in anticipating further depressive aggressions, and 
 justified in attempting to provide a barrier against future distresses 
 by shortening the hours of labour. We ask for the continuance of 
 the present rate of wages, because, through the uncertainties of em- 
 ployment, they do not afford more than the bare means of subsistence. 
 We seek to abolish systematic overtime. In many of the building 
 firms, it is a common practice for the men employed to work six and 
 a half to seven days a week, summer and winter, busy or otherwise, 
 without the slightest necessity either for trade or public convenience, 
 but merely to satisfy a hungry craving on the part of a few, while 
 thousands of able and willing mechanics are starving in the streets 
 for the want of that food which a part of that labour would supply 
 them with.' 
 
 "Although the ultimate design of proceeding to an eight hours' 
 movement is formally disclaimed by the Conference, it follows as a 
 logical sequence from the foregoing statement of reasons for restrict- 
 ing the hours of labour to nine. It is there implied that the be- 
 nefits to be derived from machinery are not the property of society, 
 of its inventors, of those who apply it, but are to be appropriated 
 by (liose whose labour it is alleged it will displace ; and that no 
 labouring man should be permitted to work a whole day while any 
 other can find employment only for a half. It is a necessary corollary 
 from such premises, that the superior industry of the assiduous work- 
 man is to be made the plea for preventing him from labouring at 
 his employment, and that the more the ingenuity of mankind 
 economises labour, the higher are to be the perquisites of the 
 artisan, and the less he ought to be called upon to do. 
 
 " It is not, however, with the fallacious political economy upon 
 which this movement is founded that this Committee hafve now to 
 deal, but -syith the unjustifiable means by which its promoters seek 
 to enforce it. So long as each employer and each artisan is left at 
 perfect liberty to determine for themselves the mutual conditions of 
 
Strike and Lock-out in the Building Trades of London. 63 
 
 their engagements, there is no honest ground for the interference of 
 any third party. 
 
 " But when by means of Trades' Unions, Conferences, and the simul- 
 taneous action of strikes, worliing men seek to compel their brother 
 operatives and their employers to regulate their mutual agreements 
 solely at the dictation of an irresponsible extraneous body, and to 
 deprive both labour and capital of their undoubted right of indepen- 
 dent judgment and entire liberty of action, it is clear that the tyranny 
 of combinations must be resisted by the firmness and unanimity of 
 those who are threatened with the infliction of their mandates. When 
 trades' societies combine, it is essential that, in self-defence, their 
 victims should unite ; and your Committee, as a condition precedent 
 to all attempts to grapple with the difficulty relegated to them for 
 solution, regard the immediate establishment, for mutual protection, 
 of an Association of Metropolitan Master Builders as absolutely 
 indispensable. 
 
 " Your Committee therefore recommend that the gentlemen present 
 at this and the former meeting do constitute themselves into a society 
 to be called the 'Central Association of Master Builders,' to which 
 any employer of workmen engaged in any business connected with 
 the building trade should be eligible by the votes of a majority of the 
 members present at the meeting at which he is proposed. 
 
 " Your Committee further submit that the following (among others) 
 should be adopted as fundamental rules immediately obligatory and 
 binding upon each member : — 
 
 " That no member of this Association shall engage, or continue in 
 his employment, any contributor to the funds of any Trades' Union 
 or Trades' Society which practices interference with the regulations 
 of any establishment, the hours or terms of labour, the contracts 
 or agreements of employers or employed, or the qualification or terms 
 of service. 
 
 "That no deputations of Trades' Unions, Committees, or other 
 bodies, with reference to any objects refered to in article 3, be 
 received by any member of this Association on any account whatever ; 
 it being still perfectly open to any workman, individually, to apply 
 on such suVjject to his -employer, who is recommended to be at all 
 times open and accessible to any personal i-epresentation of his indi- 
 vidual operatives. 
 
 " That no member of this Association shall engage or continue in 
 his employment any workman whomsoever until the person engag- 
 ing such workman shall have stipulated with and obtained from him 
 his distinct agreement and formal assent to the conditions embraced 
 in the following form of engagement, which shall be read over to 
 eveiy such workman, and a copy whereof shall be handed to him 
 before entering upon his work : — 
 
 " ' I declare that I am not now, nor will I during the continuance 
 of my engagement with you become, a member of, or support, any 
 society which directly or indirectly interferes with the ai'rangements 
 of this or any other establishment, or the hours or terms of labour ; 
 
64 Account of the 
 
 and that I recognise the right of employers and employed individually 
 to make any trade engagements on which they may choose to agree.' 
 " That no member of this Association shall permit dictation inter- 
 ference, or direct or indirect tampering with the management of his 
 establishment, or the engagement, or conditions of the service of his 
 workmen ; but that, in the event of a strike or turn-out occurring 
 in the establishment of any member of this Association from reasons 
 or from causes which shall, in the opinion of the executive committee, 
 entitle the employer so assailed to its countenance and support, it is 
 hereby, and shall continue to be distinctly understood, that all the 
 members of the Association shall sustain, according to their power 
 and ability, such member in upholding the objects of the Association ; 
 it being expressly understood and declared, that no acts shall warrant 
 the interference of this committee except such as it is the declared 
 object of the foregoing provisions to prevent." 
 
 " Your Committee further recommend, that allworks on which the 
 metropolitan Builders are engaged within the circle of the London 
 Postal District shall be discontinued Saturday next, the 6th August 
 current, and that it shall be intimated to each workman that, so soon 
 as Messrs. Trollope and Sons have resumed their works, the other 
 Master Builders will re-open their works on a new agreement, as con- 
 tained in the subjoined notification, which shall also be posted up 
 where it can conveniently be done, at each place where works of 
 members are in progress. 
 
 '"notice. 
 
 '"A formidable and wide-spread combination of workmen, organized 
 by irresponsible associations connected with a Conference of the 
 United Building Trades, having commenced to enforce by precon- 
 certed dictation compliance with their demands, by compelling the 
 persons in the employment of Messrs. Trollope and Sons to go out 
 on strike, in order to coerce that jSrm into obedience to the " nine 
 hours' movement," no alternative has been left to the Master Builders, 
 in pure self-defence, and in justice to the rights and independence of 
 the working classes, than to meet this aggression by calm and tem- 
 perate resistance. 
 
 " 'It has been distinctly intimated to the employers, that in the 
 event of the present strike being successful, other victims of the com- 
 bination will be taken in detail ; and it has, therefore, become essen- 
 tial for every Master Builder who desires to control the application of 
 his own capital, and to defend his right to manage his own affairs, 
 to meet conspiracy by co-operation. 
 
 '"The employers are, therefore, reluctantly constrained to announce 
 that their several works will be discontinued on the 6th of August, 
 in order that their capital may not be used by the employed to the 
 injury of their workmen and themselves, and in assisting an aggres- 
 sion upon the very capitalist who supplies it. 
 
 " ' The employers are, however, fully alive to the hardship of 
 depriving those peaceable workmen of their employment who are 
 not responsible for the strike. They readilv acknowledee the erave 
 
Strike and Lock-out in the Building Trades of London. QS 
 
 responsibility of the measures on which they have agreed, and the 
 duty of so mitigating their stringency as that the unoffending shall 
 be, as far as possible, exempted from the infliction of the penalties of 
 which it is essential that the real aggressors should be made examples. 
 
 " 'It has therefore been determined, that immediately on Messrs. 
 Trollope and Sons resuming their works, the other employers will 
 afford their peaceable and well-disposed workmen an opportunity of 
 co-operating with them in crushing the pernicious movement of the 
 self-constituted Conference, by re-engaging at their respective works 
 all who are ready, honestly and without any equivocation, to agree 
 to the following conditions, for a faithful adherence to which it was 
 unanimously agreed that the employers should trust to the honest 
 verbal assurance of the employed. 
 
 " ' A cheque, or file-engagement book, with duplicate successive 
 numbers, shall be kept by the foreman, clerk, or other person by 
 whom the workmen of the establishment are engaged, and he shall 
 read over to each applicant, and hand to him at the time of his 
 engagement, a printed copy of the following " Memorandum of 
 Agreement :" — 
 
 " ' I declare that I am not now, nor will I, during the continuance 
 of my engagement with you, become a member of, or support, any 
 society which, directly or indirectly, interferes with the arrangements 
 of this or any other establishment, or the hours or terms of labour ; 
 and that I recognise the right of employers and employed individually 
 to make any trade engagements on which they may choose to agree. 
 
 " 'Every workman shaU be distinctly required to pledge his word ■ 
 to the observance of these conditions, and on his name being entered 
 on the file of the engagement book, and the duplicate agreement 
 detached and handed to him, he may resume his employment.' 
 
 " Your Committee would further advise that every firm connected 
 with the metropolitan building trades should be invited to become 
 members of the Association, and to co-operate in observing the fore- 
 going suggestions. 
 
 "The executive committee of the proposed Association should 
 be instructed to publish a calmly reasoned address explanatory of 
 their proceedings, to select permanent offices, and to sit daily to 
 receive communications, enrol members, enter subscriptions, and di- 
 rect all necessary measures during the continuance of the strike. 
 
 "In conclusion, your Committee would recommend that, to con- 
 tinue to meritorious workmen the advantages of the legitimate 
 objects from which existing Trades' Unions or ^Societies have been 
 diverted, the proposed Association should give authority to the 
 executive committee to submit for its sanction a plan for the estab- 
 lishment of a new, sound, and legitimate Benefit Society." 
 
 This report was adopted by the meeting, and resolutions were 
 passed in accordance with it. 
 
 On the 2nd of August, Lord Brougham, in the House of Lords, 
 called the attention of the Government to the strike and threatened 
 lock-out. Lord Granville, on the part of the Government, said their 
 
 F 
 
66 Account of the 
 
 attention had already been drawn to the subject, and that as far as it 
 was competent for them to interfere, which could only be in main- 
 taining peace and order, they would do so. 
 
 On the 3rd of August the operatives engaged in the building 
 trades made an open-air demonstration in Hyde Park, for the pur- 
 pose of showing their disapprobation of the proposed document. 
 Many thousands were present, and the proceedings were conducted 
 with regularity, and quiet and order were strictly preserved. Several 
 speeches were made, and the following resolution was carried: — 
 
 '• That this meeting views with regret the position of antagonism 
 assumed by the employers, inasmuch as the spirit they display is 
 calculated to widen the breach already existing, by endeavouring to 
 trample out the spirit of humanity which originated, and still ani- 
 mates, the nine hours' movement ; and as the pledge which they 
 would exact from us by signing the document they propose sub- 
 mitting, would rob us of every privilege of free men, and i-educe 
 us to the condition of serfs, we determine to use every moral power 
 of resistance, and jiledge ourselves to use all constitutional measures 
 for bringing the nine hours' movement to a successful termination." 
 
 On Saturday, August the 6th, in conformity with the recom- 
 mendations of their committee, and the resolutions earned by the 
 Master Builders' Association, 225 of the largest firms of the city, 
 ■employing, it was said, 24,000 out of the 40,000 artisans,' closed 
 their shops. This number included every builder employing more 
 than fifty men, and some of the smaller firms. 
 
 Several very large and important works, where many hundreds 
 of workmen were employed, were of necessity closed; in some cases 
 an extension of time was conceded to the builders, in others the 
 emergency had been provided for by the insertion of a strike clause 
 in the builders' contracts. 
 
 Various attempts were made, during the few days following the 
 strike, to mediate between the two parties, by referring the matter in 
 dispute to certain well-known and influential men, but, as all these 
 were based on the assumption that the document was to be with- 
 drawn as a preliminary step to the negotiation, and as the masters 
 declined to take this step, they proved to be abortive. 
 
 At a crowded meeting of the Society of Masons, August 10th, a 
 resolution was unanimously carried, " That it is the opinion of this 
 meeting that the document presented to the masons of London for 
 their acceptance, either verbally or in writing, is degrading and in- 
 sulting, and that the master builders have by this act shown great 
 inconsistency, by denouncing combinations on the part of the work- 
 men while promoting the same line of conduct themselves, aud 
 demanding that all the workmen in their employment shall virtually 
 constitute themselves slaves to their dictation; and this meeting 
 pledges itself that it will not resume work except on the uncon- 
 ditional withdrawal of everything in the shape of a document, 
 promise, or agreement." 
 
 The number of men thrown out of employment on the 6th of 
 
Strike and Lock-out in the Building Trades of London. 67 
 
 August, exclusive of Messrs. Trollopes' men, is represented to have 
 been upwards of 20,000; but of these not more than half were thrown 
 upon the support of the Conference. Of the others, large numbers left 
 London immediately to seek work in the country, and many obtained 
 work from the smaller builders who had not closed their shops. 
 The remainder, who were unable thus to obtain work, were one week 
 without wages, and for the second week they received from the Con- 
 ference \s. each, and numbered as follows : 
 
 Labourers 3,245 
 
 Carpenters .... 2,816 
 
 Bricklayers .... 1,077 
 
 Plasterers 662 
 
 Masons 547 
 
 Painters 362 
 
 Smiths 80 
 
 Stone sawyers ... 67 
 Men at Woolwich, all 
 branches 551 
 
 9,407 
 
 These numbers gradually diminished to between 5000 and 6000, 
 at which point they remained steadily for some weeks. The sums 
 distributed amongst them were never more than 4s. 6d., and averaged 
 only 3s. Qd. per week, though these sums were increased in most 
 cases to 5s. or 8s, by the several societies to which the men belonged.* 
 The number of men on strike at Messrs. Trollopes' was originally 
 312, but fell in the second week to 240, and in the third to 180, and 
 then by degrees to about 100. Till the end of November they re- 
 ceived from the Conference weekly sums varying from 15s. to 12s. 
 for skilled workmen, and from 10s. to 8s. for labourers. 
 
 To obtain these moneys, meetings were held at various towns 
 throughout the country, including Plymouth, Nottingham, Birming- 
 ham, Sheffield, Glasgow and Manchester, at all of which resolutions 
 expressive of sympathy with the men were passed, and subscriptions 
 remitted in aid of the men locked out.| 
 
 About the same time a movement was got up by some men who 
 disapproved of the strike and of the interference of trades' societies 
 between masters and men, and who formed an anti-strike committee. 
 They received subscriptions from the public, and were joined by about 
 five hundred men, who enrolled their names and declared themselves 
 ready to go to work under the declaration, on condition that it 
 should be made a shop rule only, and that the actual signing should 
 be dispensed with. But the movement does not appear to have met 
 with success, and shortly became defunct. 
 
 On the 6th of September, Messrs. Trollope intimated to the 
 Masters' Association that they had 210 men at work under the de- 
 claration, whereupon it was resolved — 
 
 " That all the members of the Association be recommended to 
 i-e-open their establishments." 
 
 In accordance with this resolution, the Association of Masters 
 opened their shops generally on the 12th of September to such of 
 the operatives as chose to work on the conditions of the declaration. 
 
 * See Appendix A. j See Appendix B. 
 
 f2 
 
68 Account of the 
 
 As the masters adhered to it, their efforts to obtain men were in 
 most cases without success ; for where the declaration was presented, 
 very few went in. At Messrs. Cubitt's, where 900 had been em- 
 ployed, 200 men were re-engaged. This number included some of 
 the smiths, bricklayers, plasterers, and painters, but no skilled masons. 
 
 In no other case was anything like the same proportion of work- 
 men re-engaged, and most of the great works in the metropolis con- 
 tinued suspended from want of skilled workmen. At Messrs. Pipers, 
 out of eleven hundred, only twenty-five sa-v^'yers and joiners went in 
 
 and re-engaged; and at Messrs. , out of twelve hundred men, not 
 
 more than half a dozen. Some few of the members of the Masters' 
 Association opened their workshops without exacting the declaration, 
 and re-engaged their workmen without difficulty. 
 
 The nvmiber of men who took work at once under the declaration 
 was hardly equal to those who signed the anti-strike declaration. 
 
 There can be little doubt that the Trades' Conference viewed with 
 great unwillingness the engagement of men under the declaration, 
 and kept a close watch upon the workshops and buildings where 
 men were engaged, with a view to dissuading men fi'om joining on 
 such terms. Their emissaries did not always confine themselves in 
 these endeavours within the laws, and were on more than one occasion 
 summoned before the police-courts and convicted of intimidating and 
 annoying non-society men. These convictions were appealed against, 
 but were supported by the superior courts of law.* 
 
 During the succeeding week the masters made some progress in 
 engaging workmen by scouring the country in search of men to 
 supply the places of those who refused to come in ; whilst the Con- 
 ference at the Paviors' Arms, on their part, did all they could to in- 
 tercept these men before their ariival. 
 
 Several attempts were made from this time by independent parties 
 to induce a compromise between the masters and men, on the under- 
 standing that the men should resume work on the old terms, and 
 that the document should be withdrawn. Besides these attempts, 
 Ave find that a negotiation with a similar object was entered into 
 independently by the operative masons and their masters, which, 
 though unsuccessful, was attended with one important consequence 
 to the strike generally. 
 
 Prior to this negotiation the oj^erative masons had not been sup- 
 ported in the strilie by their separate Trade Union, the object of 
 the strike not having been approved by the society generally, and it 
 therefore not being a legal strike, within the meaning of the term, as 
 understood by the Society. 
 
 Whilst negotiating with the masters, the men insisted upon the 
 absolute withdrawal of the declaration, to which the masters 
 answered: — 
 
 " That the Executive Committee of the Master Builders cannot now 
 withdraw a declaration (already assented to by upwards of fifteen 
 
 * See Law .Journal, xxiv.. MtKria+vntoa' Poo 
 
Strike and Lock-out in the Building Trades of London. 69 
 
 tliousand workmen) which recognises the freedom of labour, and 
 acknowledges the independence of both workmen and employers." 
 
 From this time the lock-out of the masons was considered to rest 
 solely on the demand of the masters for the declaration. This made 
 it a legal strike, according to the rules of their society, and entitled 
 those out of work, in consequence of this demand, to an allowance of 
 ten shillings per week out of the funds of the society. 
 
 From this time but little change wa§ made in the relative posi- 
 tions of masters and men till the 14th of November, when the Con- 
 ference at the Paviors' Arms came to a decision to abandon the strike 
 at Messrs. Trollopes in the following resolution : — 
 
 "The Conference of the Building Trades of London having carefully 
 considered the present position of the lock-outs, have determined to 
 withdraw the strike at Messrs. Trollopes', in order effectually to oppose 
 the declaration and retain the support of the trades of the United 
 Kingdom, and that a determined stand be made to entirely overthrow 
 the odious document." 
 
 While this measure effected but little change in the numbers of 
 workmen remaining out of work, the masters who still adhered to 
 the declaration were gradually filling their shops with workmen from 
 the country. The number of men out of work, which had been up- 
 wards of ten thousand in August, had fallen gradually to about five 
 thousand in October, at which they remained stationary for many 
 weeks ; for the support of these, contributions were received which 
 for many weeks averaged about £1,000, which were distributed at 
 about 4*. Qd., and for labourers 3«. 6d. ; these sums it must be evident 
 were so small as to entail a considerable amount of suffering through- 
 out the winter months, to those at least who were without support 
 from their separate trades' societies. The returns of the Eegistrar- 
 G-eneral of the mortality in the Building Trades were a melancholy 
 index of this, and showed both the nature of the hardships which the 
 men were undergoing and the strength of purpose which induced 
 them still to hold out against going to work under the document.* 
 
 In the beginning of December a suggestion was made by Lord 
 St. Leonards that the document should be withdrawn, and that, in 
 lieu of it, there should be hung up in every shop a paper embodying 
 the law affecting masters and men in the following terms: — 
 
 " The law affecting masters and workmen was framed with a jealous 
 regard to the interests of the working man. The Act of Parliament 
 (6 George IV. cap. 129) which repealed all the former laws relative 
 to the combination of workmen, states that combinations interfering 
 with the fi'ee employment of capital and labour are injurious to trade 
 and commerce, dangerous to the tranquillity of the country, and 
 especially to the interests of all who are concerned in them. 
 
 "The object of the Act is then declared to bo to make provision, as 
 well for the security and personal freedom of individual workmen in 
 
 * See Appendices C. and D. 
 
70 Account of the 
 
 the disposal of their skill and labour as for the security of the property 
 and persons of masters and employers. 
 
 " The Act then makes the following offences punishable by impri- 
 sonment not exceeding three mouths, with or without hard labour, 
 viz. : Where any person shall, by violence to the person or property, 
 or by threats, or by intimidation, or by molesting, or in any way 
 obstructing another, — 
 
 "1. Force, or endeavour to force, any journeyman, manufacturer, or 
 workman, or other person to depart from his hiring, employment, or 
 work, or to return his work before it is finished ; 
 
 " 2. Or prevent, or endeavour to prevent, any journeyman, manufac- 
 turer, workman, or other jjerson not being hired or employed, from 
 hiring himself to, or from accepting work or employment from, any 
 person or persons ; 
 
 "3. Or for the purpose of forcing or inducing any other person to 
 belong to any club or association, or to contribute to any common 
 fund, or to pay any fine or penalty, or on account of his not belong- 
 ing to any club or association, or not having contributed, or having 
 refused to contribute, to any common fund, or to pay any fine or 
 penalty ; or on account of his not having complied, or his refusing 
 to comply, with any rules, orders, resolutions, or regulations made to 
 obtain an advance or to reduce the rate of wages, or to lessen or alter 
 the hours of working, or to decrease or alter the quantity of work, 
 or to regulate the mode of carrying on any manufacture, trade or 
 business, or the management thereof ; 
 
 "4. Or shall force, or endeavour to force, any manufacturer or person 
 carrying on any trade or business to make any alterations in his 
 mode of regulating, managing, or carrying on such trade, manufacture, 
 or business, or to limit his number of apprentices or the number or 
 description of his journeymen, workmen, or servants. 
 
 "But the Act provides : — 
 
 " 1. That any persons may meet together for the sole purpose of 
 consulting upon and determining the rate of wages or prices upon 
 which the persons present at such meeting, or any of them, shall re- 
 quire or demand for his or their work, or the hours or time for which 
 he or they shall work in any manufacture, trade, or business ; or may 
 enter into any agreement, verbal or writteii, among themselves, for 
 the purposes of fixing the rate of wages or prices which the parties 
 entering into such agreement, or any of them, shaU. require or demand 
 for his or their work, or the hours or time for which he or they vsill 
 work in any manufacture, trade, or business. 
 
 " This relates to the men. 
 
 " 2. The like powers are conferred upon the master in regard to 
 consulting upon and fixing the rate of wages or price, and the hours 
 or time of working ; — each class, masters and men, are subject to the 
 same law. 
 
 " By a later Act, 22 Vict. cap. 34, passed to protect the working 
 man, it is provided that no one, whether in actual employment or not, 
 shall, by reason merely of his entering into any agreement with any 
 
Strike and Lock-out in the Building Trades of London. 71 
 
 workman or other person or persons, for the purpose of fixing, or 
 endeavouring to fix, the rate of wages or remuneration at which they 
 or any of them shall work, or by reason merely of his endeavouring 
 peaceably, and in reasonable manner, and tvithout threats or intimi- 
 dation, direct or indirect, to persuade others to cease or abstain from 
 work, in order to obtain the rate of wages or the altered hours of 
 labour so fixed or agreed upon, be deemed or taken to be guilty of 
 ' molestation or obstruction' within the meaning of the former Act, 
 and shall not therefore be subject to prosecution or indictment for 
 conspiracy. But it is provided, that nothing contained in this later 
 Act shall authorize any workman to break or depart from any con- 
 tract, or authorize any attempt to induce any workman to break or 
 depart from any contract. 
 
 " Such is the law which binds both classes. The masters accept 
 its obligations without reserve, and pledge themselves to ©bey it both 
 in letter and spirit. They have set forth the provisions of the Acts 
 of Parliament in order that every workman may be informed of the 
 law which binds him. The law itself, the masters find, lays down 
 the true rules both for them and their men ; they, therefore, have 
 withdrawn the declaration originally required from the men, and 
 substitute this paper. It alone will bind the workmen who have 
 already made or accepted the original declaration; all will be placed 
 on the same footing. There will be no distinction between those 
 now at woi'k and those who may resume work. The masters, in the 
 spirit of peace and good-will, require nothing of the men but the 
 same obedience to the law as they themselves are ready to pay. The 
 law itself, and nothing more, but nothing less, shall become the rule 
 of trade. 
 
 " The simple object of the masters is that, accordiBg to the laws, 'j 
 they and their workmen shall be free to make what agreements they I 
 please, without the interference or coercion of any other persons. 
 With that object, the acceptance of employment where this paper is; 
 hung up wiU be considered to amount to an admission by the work-' 
 man that he is not at that time, and to a declaration that during his 
 employment he will not become, bound to any rules or customs which 
 do or would deprive him or his fellow-workmen of their free liberty j 
 to accept and continue, or to relinquish employment upon such terms ', 
 as they think fit. 
 
 " Freedom of action will place every man according to his merit; 
 but the motto of both men and masters should be, ' Let labour be 
 unshackled.' 
 
 " St. Leonaeds. 
 
 " Deo. 10, 1859." 
 
 This suggestion of Lord St. Leonards was finally, on the 6th of 
 February, agreed to by the masters at a meeting held for that purpose, 
 and the following resolution was passed : 
 
 " The objects contemplated by the declaration having now been 
 accomplished, its further formal administration is unnecessary : that 
 the suggestion of Lord St. Leonards be adopted in substitution for 
 
72 Account of the 
 
 the declaration, and that it be remitted to the Executive Committee 
 to take the steps necessary for giving effect to this resolution." 
 
 The effect of this was to put a final end to the lock-out and strike. 
 The last dividend of the Conference was paid on Monday, February 
 27th, and the movement in favour of the nine hours may be con- 
 sidered from that time as closed or postponed. 
 
 A circular was issued by the Conference expressing thanks for 
 the support they had received, and suggesting that, as the "document" 
 had been withdrawn, the nine hours' movement should be revived. 
 It does not however appear that any steps have been taken by the 
 Trades in furtherance of this suggestion. 
 
 In an Appendix to this Report will be found a short resume of 
 the balance-sheet of the Conference, from which it appears that the 
 sums contributed by workmen in other trades, in London and the 
 country, and expended by the Conference in support of the skilled 
 workmen and labourers out of work, amounted to about £23,000. 
 It must be remarked, however, that this sum represents but a very 
 small portion of the losses resulting to the men from the Strike and 
 Lock-out. The amount of wages which was sacrificed by them would 
 be indicated by a sum of nearly ten times the above amount ; while, 
 on the other hand, the losses entailed upon the masters by the stop- 
 page of their trade, from the loss of profits, and from the failure of 
 interest upon their capital invested, would be represented by an 
 amount of great magnitude, — the public, on their part, having suffered 
 by the stoppage of many works of immediate importance, and by the 
 interference with other trades caused by the suspension of so large a 
 branch of industry as the Building Trades. We have abstained in 
 this Report from any comments upon the conduct of the parties en- 
 gaged in the contest ; but we cannot conclude without expressing our 
 hope, that the consideration of these losses, and of the suffering and 
 ruin entailed by them, may have its due weight in influencing the 
 conduct of both masters and their workmen ; and that, in aid of 
 better motives, it may lead to a spirit of conciliation and of forbear- 
 ance which will be conducive to the prosperity and happiness of both 
 parties. 
 
Strike and Lock-out in the Building Trades of London. 73 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Number of Mechanics and Labourers relieved hy the Conference during the Strike and 
 
 Lock-out^ and the amounts paid away. 
 
 "Week ending 
 
 No. of Men. 
 
 Each. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 Aug. 22 
 
 9,812 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 531 9 
 
 8 
 
 "1 
 
 Sept. 5 
 
 7,757 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 1,163 11 
 
 
 
 
 „ 12 
 
 7,321 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 1,281 3 
 
 6 
 
 During these weeks the me- 
 
 „ 19 
 
 7,013 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1,402 12 
 
 
 
 [■ chanics and labourers were 
 
 „ 26 
 
 6,391 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1,278 4 
 
 
 
 paid equal dividends. 
 
 Oct. 3 
 
 6,296 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1,259 4 
 
 
 
 
 „. 10 
 
 5,779 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1,155 16 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 LABOUREES. 
 
 
 MECHA 
 
 NICS 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 No. of Men. 
 
 Each. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Oct. 17 
 
 3,314 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 666 16 
 
 
 
 2,891 
 
 3 
 
 433 13 
 
 „ 24 
 
 2,860 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 500 10 
 
 
 
 2,838 
 
 2 6 
 
 354 15 
 
 „ 31 
 
 2,784 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 487 4 
 
 
 
 2,827 
 
 2 6 
 
 353 7 6 
 
 Nov. 7 
 
 2,825 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 635 12 
 
 6 
 
 2,787 
 
 3 6 
 
 487 14 6 
 
 „ 14 
 
 2,413 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 542 18 
 
 6 
 
 2,680 
 
 3 6 
 
 469 
 
 „ 21 
 
 2,310 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 519 15 
 
 
 
 2,580 
 
 3 6 
 
 451 10 
 
 „ 28 
 
 2,253 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 394 5 
 
 
 
 1,948 
 
 2 6 
 
 243 10 
 
 Deo. 5 
 
 2,145 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 375 7 
 
 6 
 
 Labourers suspended. 
 
 „ 12 
 
 2,119 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 370 16 
 
 6 
 
 
 „ 19 
 
 2,094 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 366 19 
 
 
 
 
 „ 24 
 
 2,057 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 308 11 
 
 
 
 
 Jan. 2 
 
 2,072 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 207 4 
 
 
 
 
 „ 9 
 
 2,121 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 265 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 „ 16 
 
 2,014 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 302 2 
 
 
 
 
 „ 23 
 
 1,863 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 372 12 
 
 
 
 
 „ 30 
 
 1,831 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 366 4 
 
 
 
 
 Feb. 6 
 
 1,887 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 377 8 
 
 
 
 
 „ 13 
 
 1,822 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 364 8 
 
 
 
 
 „ 20 
 
 1,712 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 342 8 
 
 
 
 
 „ 27 
 
 1,572 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 471 12 
 
 
 
 
 In addition to these sums, the Bricklayers' Society distributed among their 
 members out on sti-ike, and independently of what they contributed to the Con- 
 ference, the sum of ^63,110. 
 
 In like manner, the Carpenters and Joiners' Society distributed from their own 
 funds among their members £5,000, and the Plasterers' Society the sum of £2,370. 
 
 APPENDIX B 
 
 Balance-sheet of the Conference of the Building Trades 
 EXPENDITUEE. 
 
 Dividend paid to Masons from August 22 to November 7 
 
 „ „ Carpenters and Joiners, from Aug. 22 to Feb. 27 
 
 „ ,. Bricklayers 
 
 „ „ Plasterers ... 
 
 „ 1, Painters 
 
 „ „ AVoolwich men 
 
 „ „ Stone-sawyers, from Aug. 22 to Nov. 12 
 
 „ „ Labourers, from Aug. 22 to Nov. 28 ... 
 
 „ „ Trollopes' men, from Aug. 1 to Nov. 21 
 
 Advertisements 
 
 Committees 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 790 13 
 
 10 
 
 27 4,451 2 
 
 
 
 ... 2,935 13 
 
 9 
 
 ... 2,799 16 
 
 6 
 
 768 8 
 
 4 
 
 499 1 
 
 3 
 
 153 10 
 
 
 
 ... 6,525 16 
 
 3 
 
 ... 1,432 19 
 
 4 
 
 34 10 
 
 1 
 
 85 7 
 
 3 
 
74 
 
 Account of the 
 
 Deputations and delegations ... 
 
 Loans repaid 
 
 Printing 
 
 Expenses of meetings 
 Sending men back to the country- 
 Stationery 
 
 Tramps 
 
 Sundries 
 
 General expenses, executive and audit 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 761 10 10 
 
 380 
 
 258 1 9 
 
 177 12 
 
 79 1 9 
 
 22 7 1 
 
 14 4 
 
 85 16 6 
 
 494 11 7 
 
 Total 
 
 B.ECEIPTS. 
 
 22,750 4 1 
 
 
 
 riptions received from Blackbui'n ... • 
 
 306 5 6 
 
 !I H 5> 
 
 Birmingham 
 
 358 14 8 
 
 
 , 
 
 Barnsley 
 
 230 
 
 
 , 
 
 Bristol 
 
 309 8 4 
 
 
 t 
 
 Dublin 
 
 360 18 2 
 
 
 •i 
 
 Glasgow 
 
 866 16 3 
 
 
 
 Liverpool 
 
 518 3 1 
 
 
 , 
 
 Manchester 
 
 837 19 6 
 
 
 , 
 
 Nottingham 
 
 152 14 
 
 
 i 
 
 Preston 
 
 105 8 
 
 
 
 Sheffield 
 
 173 2 7 
 
 
 , 
 
 United Flint-glass makers 
 
 300 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 Leeds 
 
 87 15 8 
 
 
 > 
 
 Edinburgh 
 
 62 6 
 
 
 ) 
 
 Derby 
 
 182 3 
 
 
 
 Coachmakers of United Kingdom ... 
 
 138 5 
 
 
 
 238 other toivna and places in the 
 
 
 
 country 
 
 3,251 
 
 
 Total from the country 
 
 Amalgamated Engineers' Society 
 
 8,190 19 9 
 
 
 3,100 
 
 
 Bricklayers' levy 
 
 582 
 
 
 Boiler makers andiron ship builders 
 
 655 
 
 
 Bookbinders 
 
 227 2 
 
 
 Carpenters' Societies 
 
 514 15 
 
 
 Compositors' Society 
 
 620 
 
 
 Cabinet-makers 
 
 170 
 
 T» 5T T» 
 
 Cigar-makers 
 
 103 10 1 
 
 
 Coachmakers 
 
 170 10 
 
 
 Coopers 
 
 616 
 
 
 Parriers 
 
 100 
 
 
 Hatters 
 
 139 
 
 
 Iron Pounders of United Kingdom 
 
 140 
 
 
 Masons, General Union of 
 
 114 11 6 
 
 
 Plasterers' levies 
 
 618 
 
 
 Piano-forte makers 
 
 300 
 
 
 Shipwrights, Port of London 
 
 300 
 
 
 Reynolds's Newspaper 
 
 242 8 5 
 
 
 Tin-plate workers 
 
 Other subscriptions, and two collec- 
 
 263 
 
 
 tions in London 
 
 5,998 9 10 
 
 Total 
 
 in London 
 
 14,974 6 10 
 
 Total Receipts 
 
 23,165 6 7 
 
 Total 
 
 Expenditure 
 
 22,750 4 1 
 
 Ba 
 
 lance 
 
 £415 2 6 
 
 (N.B. Only the most important subscriptions have been specially noticed.) 
 
Strike and Lock-out in the Building Trades of London. 75 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 Extract from Report of Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Eng- 
 land for the year 1859. 
 
 " During the latter part of the year the chief masters and the men in the build- 
 ing trades of London were in a state of open war. The masters closed their 
 estaWishments on August 6th, and afterwards only employed men who would sign 
 a document. The men refused, to the number it was said of 20,000. The Con- 
 ference of the trades' societies distributed certain sums among their members ; 
 and in the sixth week as many as 14,000 received allowances. These allowances 
 were however inadequate ; the means and credit of many failed ; the small shop- 
 keepers, instead of £9 or £10 took no more than £2 or £3 a week from the 
 families of the workmen. The distress became in some cases urgent, yet the 
 struggle was protracted through the rest of the year. The wives evidently 
 thought their husbands in the right, and suffered with them the pangs of hunger. 
 A relieving ofEcer thus writes on September 1st, ' I visited this man's lodg- 
 ing ; he was out, but his wife was in bed, with scarcely a rag to cover her, evi- 
 dently gradually sinking from want ; the room contained scarcely an article of fui'- 
 niture and presented a most destitute, and neglected, and dirty appearance. She 
 said, " We are starving, sir ; we have neither fire nor food." " Why," I replied, 
 " does not your husband go to work ? " " What ! " she exclaimed, with consider- 
 able energy, "to become worse than a slave !" ' 
 
 " This distress produced ultimately a sensible effect on the mortality of the men 
 and their wives. As long as there was bread, the poor children, however, apparently 
 had it ; until weakened, cold, ill-clad, they at last died in unusual numbers as the 
 severe weather came on towards the close of the year. 
 
 "The following table shows the deaths in the various branches of the building 
 trades during three successive periods of six weeks. If the numbers in the first 
 six weeks may be taken as the average numbers, the e.-ccess in the two following 
 periods is considerable. Neither the additional workmen who came to town, nor 
 th© weather, will account for the whole increase. 
 
 ' 'Summary in periods of six -weeks of the Deaths in Jive branches of the Building Trades. 
 
 Perioas 
 
 of 
 
 Six Weeks. 
 
 Bricklayers. 
 
 Cai-penters. 
 
 Masons. 
 
 Painters. 
 
 Plasterers. 
 
 (^ 
 
 fc: 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 a 
 
 i 
 
 
 d 
 
 <5 
 
 o 
 
 1 
 o 
 
 S 
 
 — 
 
 
 1859. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sept. 10 ■) 
 to [ 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 29 
 
 24 
 
 26 
 
 105 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 26 
 
 10 
 
 51 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 Oct. 22. J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Oct. 22-) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 to [ 
 Dec. 3. J 
 
 19 
 
 10 
 
 30 
 
 59 
 
 22 
 
 101 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 16 
 
 37 
 
 17 
 
 67 
 
 6 
 
 i 
 
 11 
 
 Deo. 3) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 to ( 
 Jan. 14,/" 
 
 15 
 
 12 
 
 54 
 
 47 
 
 26 
 
 135 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 16 
 
 42 
 
 14 
 
 50 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 34" 
 
 1860. ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
76 Account of the Strike in the Building Trades. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 Entract from Letter of a Scripture Reader of a populous district in London. 
 
 "I am able to testify, from personal observation, of the very great distress which 
 the strike has caused in the eases of many families living in my district. I have 
 seen many families reduced from a state of comparative comfort to one of extreme 
 wretchedness. Piece after piece of their fui-nitm-e was sold to procure bread ; 
 their clothes were pawned, and at last, where there had been prosperity and com- 
 fort, nothing remained but ruin and miseiy ; some of them have left the district, 
 but some remain. 
 
 " There is a couple named ; they ai-e young people, were married just be- 
 fore the strike commenced last year, they seemed likely to do well ; but in con- 
 sequence of the strike the man lost his wort, became reckless, enlisted into the 
 army, leaving his wife in the greatest distress. 
 
 " I recollect, too, visiting a family named ; they were a short time ago 
 
 bordering on starvation, and this, I was assured, was directly attributable to the 
 strike. 
 
 " But the most painful case which has come under my notice was that of a family 
 
 named . I became acquainted with the man a few years ago, he was a very 
 
 industrious, sober and intelligent man, but his misfortune commenced with the 
 strike ; he was not a ' society man,' and did not wish to strike ; his furniture gra- 
 dually disappeared, his decent clothes were all at last lodged in the pawnshop, 
 and he and his family reduced to gi'cat want. At last, after being out of work 
 several months, he obtained employment, but it proved too much for his exhausted 
 frame ; after worldng for a few days he was attacked by fever, and died after a 
 week's illness, leaving a wife and several young children, who are at the present 
 time, I fear, without clothes or food. Until lately I have been engaged only in a 
 part of my district, had I been engaged in the whole of the district during 
 the last twelve months, I believe I should be able to bring forward many other 
 painful and distressing cases. 
 
 " June 2nd, 1860." 
 
REPORT 
 
 ON 
 
 PEINTEES' STEIKES AND TRADE UNIONS 
 
 SINCE JANUARY, 1845. 
 
 PKEPAEED rOR 
 
 SEfje Wational ^lasociatton iax tfjt ^romntinn of Sncial Srimce, 
 
 AT THE REQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADES' SOCIETIES. 
 
 By J. W. CEOMPTON.* 
 
 Various Typographical Societies throughout the kingdom were uaited 
 in January, 1845, and formed the National Typographical Association. 
 The affairs of the Association were managed by a Central Board or 
 Committee, consisting of five District Boards collectively — in which 
 resided the executive power, a majority of whose votes decided every 
 question — and the Committees of each -Local Society or Branch 
 belonging to the Union. 
 The five Districts were 
 
 Northern — Scotland, having Eight Branches or 
 Local Societies at principal towns, with 
 
 Western — Ireland, Eleven Branches ... „ 
 
 Midland — Twenty-two Branches ... „ 
 
 South- Western — Twelve Branches ... „ 
 
 South-Eastern — Seven Branches ... „ 
 
 Total 4,320 members. 
 
 The Trade in Manchester did not join the Association, and remained 
 united amongst themselves in a Society which had previously been 
 in association with the Northern Union. Most of the Societies 
 which had formed part of the Northern Union joined the National 
 Association, the Northern Union ceasing to exist. The Association 
 was formed to enable the profession to co-operate throughout the 
 kingdom in carrying on any defensive warfare with their employers, 
 and to come to a common understanding on matters in dispute affect- 
 ing the general welfare of the trade. 
 
 * I desire to express my thanlis to Mr. Melson, of Liverpool, Mr. Dronfield, of 
 Sheffield, and Mr. Wilkie, of Edinburgh, as well as to several Master Printers, for 
 their invaluable assistance in preparing this Report. 
 
 800 members, 
 
 569 
 
 JJ 
 
 714 
 
 >» 
 
 237 
 
 »■) 
 
 2,000 
 
 )J 
 
78 Report on 
 
 A case of dispute between employer and employed being brought 
 before a Local Society's or Branch Committee, their decision was 
 submitted to the District Board of Direction, for approval and confir- 
 mation; if the question was thought too important for the decision 
 of the District Board, it was laid before the Central Board, which 
 finally gave or refused the support of the Association according to 
 its own judgment. The appeal to the Executive was final so far as 
 the Association was concerned, but each District Board could act 
 independently, if it thought fit to do so, in any matter, but without 
 the support of the Association and use of its funds. It was the aim 
 of the Association to produce, as far as possible, a uniformity of 
 trade usages throughout the country, to bring the profession to a 
 common understanding on all questions arising between employers 
 and employed, especially in relation to the number of apprentices or 
 boys in proportion to journeymen printers, and the prices of labour, and 
 to support the unemployed to a limited extent while in search of work. 
 
 It was thus hoped that strikes would become less frequent, or at 
 least shortened in duration, and that the tramp system would be 
 abolished, by the substitution of a weekly payment made in the town 
 to which the hand belonged while unemployed. The Committee of 
 Management being the centre, each District Board and Local Society 
 acted to some extent independently, having the judgment and support 
 of the Executive to fall back upon in case of need. 
 
 In case of a dispute arising between masters and men in which the 
 Executive determined to support the demands of the men, the mem- 
 bers of the Association were withdrawn from the ofiSce, receiving 
 strike allowance if the employers did not yield ; the ofiice being 
 denominated unfair, and the employer being obliged to get what 
 workmen he could, non-members of the Association. 
 
 Members of the Association, however, in certain districts, did not 
 refuse to work Avith non-members in oflaees where association rules 
 were not violated, and from which men _ had not been discharged 
 solely upon the ground of being members of the Association, and in 
 order to make way for non-members. 
 
 In the first half-year twenty-six cases of dispute were submitted 
 to the Executive, such as the following: — 
 
 Were men working in " unfair " oflices entitled to admission into 
 the Association on payment of entrance fee ? 
 
 Decided, that the ofiice must be declared " fair" by the District Board. 
 
 The London employers sought to reduce the price of work Id. 
 per 1,000 for appeal cases. This was resisted, and after a month's 
 struggle the employers gave way. 
 
 It was decided that the weekly allowance to members on strike 
 was to be paid only for six months after the date of the strike. 
 
 At the end of the first year, the gross income was £1,637 17 8J 
 
 Total expenditure 713 17 1 
 
 General balance in hands of Association ... £924 7i 
 
Printers' Strikes and Trade Unions. 79 
 
 The second Report speaks favourably of the position of the Associa- 
 tion, the number of members increasing. Twenty-five cases of dis- 
 pute were submitted to the Executive in the second half-year. 
 
 An employer in the Northern District having attempted to reduce 
 the rate of wages, the attempt was resisted, and after six weeks' 
 struggle the employer yielded. 
 
 The trade generally being brisk in the North, and a restrictive 
 system as to the number of apprentices in offices having been adopted 
 in Edinburgh some three years previously, journeymen's wages in 
 Edinburgh rose troxa lis. and lis., at the passing of the restrictive 
 laws, to 1 8s. and 20s. average rate per week. 
 
 Work from an " unfair " office was not to be done by a " fair " office. 
 
 In this Report a great decrease in the number of tramps seeking 
 employment is noticed in several districts, indicating the success of 
 the Association in this direction. Number of members, at the end of 
 second half-year, 4,970. 
 
 Gross income ... ... ... £2,461 7 6 
 
 Previous balance 924 7i 
 
 £3,385 8 IJ 
 Total expenditure 1,397 14 lo| 
 
 Balance in hand £1,987 13 3 
 
 In March, 1846, a meeting of delegates from the Association was 
 
 ■ held, to consider a proposition emanating from the London Society, 
 
 aud sanctioned by the Executive, with reference to the number of 
 
 apprentices the trade ought to recognise in proportion to journeymen. 
 
 In some offices no apprentices were employed ; in others, the pro- 
 portion varied from nine men to four boys to as many boys as men, 
 and even more. 
 
 It was proposed and resolved, that 
 
 In book offices, or book and newspaper offices, one apprentice should 
 be allowed to four men, each office being allowed two apprentices, 
 irrespective of the number of men. 
 
 In newspaper offices not more than three apprentices shall be 
 employed ; and where more than one newspaper is made up, a portion 
 of one beino- used in the production of a second, two apprentices to be 
 allowed for each paper so produced. No apprentice allowed upon a 
 daily paper. 
 
 It was also resolved that all boys must be legally bound as appren- 
 tices, and in the case of a boy being under, a second master he must 
 be bound to him by a written witnessed agreement. 
 
 The third Report notices general prosperity in the trade in the 
 Northern and Midland Districts. In the North, Sunday wages were 
 raised to double week-day wages ; a rise of about 3s. per week is 
 noticed in two Midland localities. 
 
 Forty-six cases of dispute were submitted to the Executive, and 
 
80 Report on 
 
 several offices were closed iu which the recognised rate of wages 
 in the locality was not given. 
 
 Members refusing to pay their subscription were expelled from the 
 Association, the office being consequently closed to Society men, it 
 was however subsequently reopened. 
 
 The number of members increased to 5,421. 
 
 Gross income £2,068 16 lOJ 
 
 Previous balance .. . ... ... ••• 1,987 13 3 
 
 £4,056 10 II 
 Expenditure (£771 invested in £790 stock) 2,144 6 
 
 Balance £1,912 4 1| 
 
 In the fourth half-year of the Association's existence, upwards of 
 ninety cases of dispute were submitted to the Executive. 
 
 A strike occurred iu London with reference to the apprentice 
 regulations adopted by the Association, involving an expenditure of 
 £500 in payments to men on strike. 
 
 In the South-eastern District alone (which included London) the 
 expenditure and payments to unemployed hands not on strike 
 amounted to £1,200, trade being very dull. ^ 
 
 Double subscriptions were paid for six months by employed 
 members, one shilling instead of sixpence per week. Thirty-eight 
 employers in Edinburgh combined to break up the Association in 
 December, 1846, preferring to employ non-society men. This strike 
 terminating in favour of the masters, broke up the Edinburgh Society. 
 
 At the close of the year 1846 a defalcation was discovered in the 
 accounts of a district, amounting to £90 lis. 3d., and this, combined 
 with other causes, produced a feeling of distrust and dissatisfaction 
 throughout the trade, leading many to desert the Association ; and 
 ultimately it was found necessary to abandon the attempt to unite the 
 trade throughout the kingdom into one Association. 
 
 A difference of opinion existed as to the desirability of supporting 
 the unemployed hands connected with the Association out of the 
 Association funds ; it was thought unfair advantage was taken of it; 
 and the tramp system, which assisted men in travelling expenses 
 while iu search of work, was preferred in some localities ; in large 
 towns, however, the new system established by the Association of 
 supporting the unemployed men with a weekly allowance of 6s. was 
 found to work satisfactorily. 
 
 With a view of saving the funds of the Association by giving em- 
 ployment to the unemployed London hands on strike, a newspaper 
 was established, which did not succeed as was expected, and the 
 scheme had to be abandoned, entailing a loss on the Association of 
 about £100. The Association seems to have exercised its power with 
 moderation and with firmness ; but the opprobrious epithets bestowed 
 on those who stood aloof from the Association indicates a feeling of 
 bitterness against non-unionists not justified by the position they took. 
 
Printers' Strikes and Trade Unions. 81 
 
 During the year 1847, the Edinburgh strike, already noticed, cost 
 the Association £2,000, which, combined with payments to unem- 
 ployed members to the extent of £1,900, placed the Association in an 
 embarrassed position ; and although attempts were made to introduce 
 concord throughout the Union by modifying rules relating to allow- 
 ance to unemployed, &c., the Association broke up in the course of 
 the year into District Associations in different parts of the country. 
 
 The real and fundamental cause of the weakness and decline of the 
 National Association lay in the fact that the labour market was over- 
 stocked ; and it was impossible to unite the whole trade into one 
 organized body sufficiently sti'ong in their union to give some sup- 
 port to the unemployed, to prevent them from being tempted to 
 accept " unfair" terms, as well as to maintain those on strike. 
 
 The National Typographical Association was succeeded in June, 
 1 849, by the Provincial Typographical Association, managed by an 
 Executive Committee, and having Branch Societies in seventeen of 
 the principal towns in England ; London, Manchester, and Birming- 
 ham being excepted. 
 
 This Association attempted to accomplish in the provinces of 
 England what the National Association aimed to realize for the trade 
 throughout the kingdom, aiming especially to avoid collisions between 
 employers and employed, demanding for the men only what it 
 believed to be reasonable, and restraining unjustifiable action on the 
 part of the men. 
 
 Commencing with seventeen Branches and 481 members, it gra- 
 dually gained strength, and in the third year of its existence numbered 
 twenty-one Branches and 600 members. 
 
 In 1852 Manchestci" became a Branch ; but the trade was still too 
 much divided to enable the Association to do more than mediate 
 between employers and employed in certain localities, and, as far as 
 possible, resist any encroachments made upon the trade usages of each 
 locality. 
 
 The strikes with which this Association has had to deal have 
 invariably been local, and afiecting only one office in the same 
 locality at one time and for the same cause. 
 
 A strike Avas authoi'ized by the Executive in Liverpool, fourteen 
 hands having left an office owing to mere labouring men having 
 been put to presswork. This strike cost the Association £108. 
 
 A man was also supported on strike in another Liverpool office ; 
 his master declining to pay the wages he had been accustomed to 
 receive. 
 
 With a view of relieving the trade of surplus hands, several Emigra- 
 tion Societies were formed; and in the year 1853 it was proposed to the 
 trade throughout the kingdom to unite in establishing the National 
 Typographical Emigration Society. 
 
 It was proposed that every Association of journeymen printers, and 
 apprentices in their last year, wishing to become a Branch, shall con- 
 tribute lOs. per month for every ten members earning more than 
 two-thirds wages ; less then two-thirds, 6s. 8c?. ; less than one-third, 
 
 G 
 
82 Report on 
 
 3s. 4c?. ; and in proportion to whatever sum such subscription may 
 amount to, for the period of two years, shall he the claim of such 
 Branch as to the number of emigrants to be allotted for its disposal 
 in accordance with the following scale : — 
 No. of Ml paying Members in Branch. 
 200 at £10 per month, in two years, £2401 , . , , 
 
 100 at £5 do. do. do. do. ' f 120I "^^^^g <'1"'^1 *« 
 13J grants of £18 each to Australia, 1 or, 40 and 20 £6 grants 
 6§ do. do. do. do. / to America ; and so on 
 in proportion. 
 
 The six pound shares to be allotted by ballot every thi-ce months. 
 One share of £6 being allowed to an emigrant proceeding to Ame- 
 rica, three shares (£18) being allowed to an emigrant proceeding to 
 Australia. 
 
 It was hoped that by thus joining to enable some of the trade to 
 emigrate, the surplus of labour might be reduced, and an effective 
 remedy found for the evils which the trade had attempted to remove 
 by restrictive regulations as to the number of apprentices, which re- 
 gulations, however, they had never been able fully to enforce. It was 
 expected that 400 or 500 hands would be enabled to emigrate in twO' 
 years. The scheme, however, did not meet with the general support 
 expected, and the number of emigrants who went out with means 
 provided by the Association was comparatively limited. 
 
 The Liverpool Society, in 1853, anticipating some improvement in 
 trade on the passing of the act affecting advertisement duty and news- 
 paper supplement stamps, asked from their employers that the 
 " extra wages for overtime " should commence from seven p.m., 
 instead of from ten p.m. as previously. Twenty-four employers 
 acquiesced, ten objected ; the trade being however firm in the demand, 
 with one exception the employers agreed. The office of the employer 
 who did not come to terms was closed. 
 
 On entering upon the sixth year of its existence, the Association 
 numbered twenty-eight Branches and 1,125 members; nevertheless, 
 the Association was unable to enforce its rule in all localities limit- 
 ing the number of apprentices. The towns Newcastle, Leeds, Bir- 
 mingham, Derby, Leicester, and Bristol still remained unconnected 
 with it. 
 
 Owing to the trade not being thoroughly united, and the general 
 superabundance of labour, the Executive Committee frequently had 
 to recommend a submission to certain grievances rather than the 
 alternative of a strike. 
 
 A case of this kind occurred at Liverpool in 1857. The custom 
 of the town had always been to allow only professional hands to feed 
 the machines, whether jobbing or news. A large employer, however, 
 wished to put non -professional hands to the work, which, if permitted 
 to all employers, would sacrifice the profession to the extent of £30 
 per week. 
 
 The Liverpool Society naturally desired to resist this ; the Execu- 
 tive, however, feeling that in the then existing state of trade the evil 
 
Printers^ Strikes and Trade Unions. 83 
 
 could not be successfully resisted, more especially as in other large 
 towns the feeding of the machines was not claimed by the profession, 
 recommended submission to the change, and that the local society's 
 rule be rescinded. 
 
 This was finally agreed to by the Liverpool Branch, on the under- 
 standing that those members who, during the twelve months following 
 the alteration, lost situations in consequence of the change should be 
 entitled to receive strike allowance from the Association. There is 
 no record of this allowance having been claimed. 
 
 In 1858, the Association numbered thirty-three Branches and 1,322 
 members. A serious strike occurred at Birmingham (which town 
 became a Branch in 1856) early in 1858, costing the Association 
 nearly £300, twenty-six hands being upon strike. A newspaper 
 office, publishing a daily paper, and supplying also the materials for 
 a weekly one, demanded that the men should transfer the matter 
 originally prepared for the daily paper, and put it into form for the 
 weekly paper, only receiving payment at the established rate for 
 piecework on the quantity of type set for the daily paper. This 
 being equivalent to a reduction in wages, or working for nothing, the 
 men determined to resist. The paper shortly after ceased to exist. 
 
 In September, 1858, a strike occurred in a newspa.per office in 
 Sheffield, owing to the introduction of non-society hands, which the 
 Executive determined to resist, being convinced that the employer's 
 object was to obtain a reduction in the rate of wages paid. Eighteen 
 hands struck, and received strike-allowance to the extent of about 
 £252, in addition to which a sum of £73 was paid by the local 
 society. In connexion with this strike, an action for libel cost the 
 local society for damages and litigation a further sum of £1,062. 
 The printers' societies in various parts of the country, and the trades' 
 unions of Sheffield, contributed £873 towards this large amount. No 
 important strike took place in 1859. The Association consisted 
 of thirty-five Branches and 1,351 members at the end of the year. 
 
 The total number of cases in which the Association has made pay- 
 ments to members in consideration of sacrifices made in support of 
 union regulations, since its establishment in June, 1 849, to December, 
 1859, is sixty-six Of these disputes, sixty-one originated in em- 
 ployers attempting to set aside the customs of the respective towns ; 
 and five were caused by men requesting an increase of wages. 
 
 Thirty-seven of these cases may be denominated strikes, the 
 " offices" being " closed" to Society men, and non-society men taking 
 their places. In thirty-three of these cases, the men gave notice, 
 and in four the employers. In eleven of these strikes, some of the 
 men refused to come out, viz. in two cases eight, in one six, in two 
 two, and in six one. The number of men involved in each strike 
 varies from one to twenty-six, five being about the average. 
 
 In several cases of strike an amicable arrangement was made, and 
 the offices " re-opened." 
 
 In the twenty-nine cases of dispute which did not result in a strike, 
 the offices remained open through the influence of the Executive) and 
 
 g2 
 
84 Report on 
 
 other causes) either with the masters or men ; but in twenty-three 
 cases some of the men were discharged. 
 
 The Provincial Typographical Association aims to regulate the 
 provincial trade by supporting its local societies iu limiting the 
 hours of labour and the number of apprentices, and maintaining the 
 standard rates of wages of each locality. The Association derives its 
 income from entrance fees, weekly subscriptions, and fines ; the en- 
 trance fee varies from \s. to 2s. 6d. per member, according to the 
 amount of cash balance in the hands of the Association at the time of 
 entrance.* Branch societies of the Association pay a subscription of 
 2c?. per member per week to the Association funds ; members only 
 partially employed being exempt from payment if their wages amount 
 to less than one-half the current rate ; those in receipt of one-half to 
 three-quarters pay one-half subscription ; those in receipt of more 
 than three-fourths full wages pay the full subscription, 2d. per^week. 
 
 The Association rule regulating the number of apprentices is as 
 follows : — 
 
 " That no office shall be deemed worthy of imitation where there 
 is a greater number of apprentices than ttvo, unless /our journeymen 
 have been regularly employed foi' six months, when the number 
 may be increased to three, but on no account to have more than 
 three. 
 
 " That in all towns where custom has recognised the wisdom of this 
 limitation, no innovation shall be permitted in any society connected 
 with the Provincial Association." In other towns, where a greater 
 number of apprentices has been permitted, the number not to be 
 allowed to increase, and local societies in such towns to do all in their 
 power to reduce the number to the prescribed limits. 
 
 With reference to the working time, at the established rate of 
 weekly wages, the hours are limited to fifty-nine per week (which is 
 counted as sixty, nine hours on Saturday being charged and paid for 
 as ten), as a maximum. Overtime and Sunday work are left to local 
 arrangement. No newspaper or other publication is allowed to be 
 " farmed," that is to say, in no fair office is an overseer or foreman 
 permitted to enter into an engagement with the proprietor of the paper 
 to get it out for so much a week or month. 
 
 Persons are only eligible to become members of the Association 
 who have served seven years' legal apprenticeship in the printing, 
 printing and bookbinding, or printing and stationery business. 
 
 On a strike being authorized by the Executive in resisting any 
 encroachment on the privileges of the profession, the men on strike 
 receive weekly from the funds of the Association, for a period of six 
 months, payments according to the following scale : — First nine 
 M'eeks, three-quarters ; second nine weeks, one-half, and for the last 
 eight weeks, one-third wages of the locality. The men above fifty 
 years of age receive payments for thirty-six weeks ; first twelve 
 
 * The funds of the Association, according to the last half-yearly report (June 
 30th, 1860) amount to £736 Is. 9rf. 
 
Printers^ Strikes and Trade Unions. 85 
 
 weeks, three-fourths ; second twelve weeks, one-half ; and last 
 twelve weeks, one-third of the regular wages of the locality. Over- 
 seers, and others receiving extra wages, are paid a strike allowance 
 proportionate to the wages they have received. Should a strike 
 hand obtain employment, the sui-plus of his earnings and strike 
 money over and above the established wages is deducted from the 
 amount of strike allowance otherwise due. 
 
 If, on the expiration of the six months, a strike hand is obliged to 
 seek work in another locality, he is provided with a strike card, 
 which, on presentation to the treasurer of a Branch, will entitle him to 
 receive double the amount of relief due to a member not on strike 
 travelling in search of employment. This allowance varies according 
 to the size of the Branch ; a large society allowing 5s. and 10s. to a 
 strike hand, a small Branch paying only Is. or 2s., both being paid 
 to the same individual once only in twelve months. 
 
 Each Branch society of the Provincial Association has special rules 
 of its own, conformable to the rules of the Association, but which the 
 Association is not bound to support in case of violation. The local 
 societies generally make some provision for death, sickness, for mem- 
 bers out of employment, and some relief is given to men travelling in 
 search of employment if they are members of a society reciprocating 
 the allowance. This relief varies from 6c?. to 5*., with something 
 extra on Saturdays. 
 
 In case of dispute arising between a master and his men, the local 
 society's Committee decide upon the propriety or otherwise of resist- 
 ing the encroachment ; if they decide it ought to be resisted, they 
 submit their decision to the Executive, which endeavours by deputa- 
 tion to adjust the dispute, having recourse finally to a strike if they 
 are convinced circumstances justify it. 
 
 The Executive remark in their fifteenth half-yearly Eeport with 
 reference to strikes — 
 
 " Many Branches have submitted cases which they conceived called 
 for extreme measures, but in which the Executive have, after due 
 inquiry and consideration, concluded otherwise. Strikes are at best 
 an evil ; and, although they are occasionally necessary, should not in 
 the opinion of the Executive be resorted to except in flagrant innova- 
 tions, and then only when aU other measures have failed, and when, 
 besides, a hope of success can be reasonably entertained. 
 
 " The expenditure of a large sum of money, and the endurance of 
 much individual suiFering, are not the only sequences of a strike, as 
 it sometimes happens that they also lead to an aggravation of the 
 very evils sought to be remedied." 
 
 The rates of wages, and customs as to extra rate per hour overtime, 
 vary in difiereut localities. At Liverpool, the rates are 30s. per week 
 of fifty-nine hours, day labour, with 2d. per hour extra before eight 
 in the morning or after seven in the evening, in jobbing ofiices, or 
 newspapers published not oftener than twice a week ; three times a 
 week or more, 3d. per hour extra overtime or nightwork. Daywork 
 is thus paid for at 6d. per hour; overtime or nightwork 8d. and 9d. 
 
86 Report on 
 
 per hour. There is no rule Imiitmg hours of labour, and no maximum 
 rate of wages. 
 
 In Sheffield, the rate of wages per week of fifty-nine hours is 28*., 
 overtime 6d. per hour. Daily news hands receiving 5s. per week 
 extra, and 7d. per hour overtime. Nightwork from ten p.m. to 
 five A.M., and Sunday labour, 3id. per hour extra, 10c?. per hour. 
 
 The Provincial Typographical Association does not permit a non- 
 society man to work with society men, but admission into the Society 
 is refused to none who have served in the business the proper appren- 
 ticeship of seven years. The Association allows matter once set up 
 to be used by the same proprietor for as many purposes as he thinks 
 fit, but a proprietor of a newspaper would not be pemiitted to sell, or 
 transfer by mutual arrangement, matter prepared for his paper to 
 reappear in the columns of a paper belonging to another proprietor. 
 A case however occurred at Birmingham in 1857, in violation of this 
 principle, in which the Executive of the Provincial Association re- 
 fused to authorize a strike, and the men submitted to the grievance. 
 
 The London Trade is united in two Societies, the London Society 
 of Compositors and London Society of Pressmen. The Society of 
 Compositors is established to protect wages of labour, agreeably to 
 provisions contained in the London Scale of Prices, agreed to by a 
 Conference of Master Printers and Compositors in 1847, the scale of 
 prices regulating news and parliamentary work, and such customs and 
 usages as belong to the profession not directly mentioned in the said 
 scales. 
 
 Such protection is subject to the decision of an Arbitration Com- 
 mittee, consisting of three masters nominated by the masters in whose 
 office the dispute has arisen, and three journeymen who are not 
 employed in the said office to be nominated by the journe3'"men ; this 
 Committee is presided over by a barrister as chairman, appointed 
 annually, and who in all cases of division in which the votes of the 
 arbitrators are equal, decjdes the question at issue by his casting 
 vote. The Arbitration Committee base their decisions on a Scale 
 made in 1810, with additions, definitions, and explanations arranged 
 at a Conference of Master Printers and Compositors in 1847. 
 
 In case a dispute arise afiecting the scale of prices or customs of 
 the London Trade, and the master refuse to submit the question at 
 issue to the Arbitration Committee, the Society may require the men 
 to give up their situations, and until a general meeting of the Trade 
 be called, temporarily close the office to members of the Society. 
 Members who lose their situations receive as follows — 
 
 Those who have paid in last thirteen weeks' employment not less 
 than 3«. 9d., 2os.; not less than 2s. 8d., 20s.; 2s. 2d. and less, 15*. 
 per week for ten weeks ; the payment being prolonged one week for 
 every six months' membership, twenty-six weeks being the maxi- 
 mum period allowed. In the event of a strike-hand earning less than 
 33*. per week in partial employment, that sum is made up by the 
 society. 
 
 Cases of dispute on which the Committee of the Compositors' 
 
Printers' Strikes and Trade Unions. 87 
 
 Society and Committee of Master Printers' Society da not agree, are 
 submitted to the Arbitration Committee ; but if the Compositors' 
 Committee and Master Printers' Committee are unanimous, no further 
 appeal is allowed. 
 
 A London Compositor receives not less than 33s. per week, work- 
 ing ten hours and a half per day ; and if engaged upon a weekly 
 paper, not less than 36*. per week. 
 
 Since the Edinburgh strike in 1847, and the breaking up of the 
 National Association, there seems to have been no strike of any 
 moment in Scotland in the printing trade. The Scottish Typo- 
 graphical Association has at present Branches in eighteen of the 
 principal towns. The Association minimum rate of wages in Edin- 
 burgh and Glasgow is 25s. per week of sixty hours for compositors 
 and pressmen ; in the provinces the mimmum is 20s. for sixty hours' 
 labour per week ; 3rf. per hour extra is charged for nightwork after 
 nine p.m. or before sis a.m. Time hands are paid overtime on all 
 hours they have worked above sixty per week. 
 
 The rates paid for piecework are according to a regular scale of 
 prices mutually accepted by masters and men, and the most cordial 
 understanding seems to exist between employers and employed in 
 Scotland. 
 
 During the last two years, a rise in weekly wages and a reduction 
 in the hours of labour per week has been acceded to the men in 
 both Edinburgh and Glasgow ; but as piecework is the rule, and a 
 number of the steadiest and most expert workmen are employed at 
 from 26s. to 30s. per week, there are complaints made by the piece 
 hands of inferior work, idle time, and low wages. 
 
 In Glasgow, the piece prices are maximum as well as minimum, no 
 member being allowed to work for more or less than the established 
 rate. 
 
 The trade in Edinburgh and Glasgow have recently prepared a new 
 scale of piecework prices, which the masters seem inclined to adopt 
 without finally accepting and acknowledging it as binding upon them. 
 
 In Ireland there seems to have been no general union of the 
 Printers' Societies since the dissolution of the National Association. 
 
 There are Societies in Dublin, Belfast, Carlow, Clonmel, Cork, 
 Galway, Kilkenny, Londonderry, Limerick, and Wexford, which are 
 recognised by the trade and act in concert with their brethren in 
 England and Scotland. 
 
 The Dublin Typographical Provident Society naturally takes the 
 precedence of the other Irish societies. 
 
 It is composed of journeymen printers of the city of Dublin, and 
 its objects are the formation of a permanent fund for affording relief 
 to such of its members as may from time to time be out of employ- 
 ment, to assist such as may wish to emigrate, to settle the price of 
 labour, by communication between employers and employed, and 
 promote the general interests of its members. 
 
 The weekly subscription is \d. for every 3s. earned, 3s. per week 
 being maximum subscription. 
 
88 Report on 
 
 An unemployed member, who has not lost his situation through 
 any negligence or improper conduct on his part, may receive in weekly 
 payments of 6s. the sum of £4 in tAvelve months, from the first 
 week in May in each ycnr. 
 
 Sick members are not entitled to receive this weekly allowance, 
 but 1*. in twenty of the weekly receipts is appropriated to l^ super- 
 annuation fund, providing a weekly payment for members incapaci- 
 tated by old age and bodily infirmity from earning a livelihood. 
 On the decease of a member his representatives are entitled to 
 receive a sum of £3. 
 
 A member desiring to emigrate to America or other foreign part 
 (with the intention of there obtaining en^loyment as a printer), and 
 who has paid while in work one hundred and four weeks' subscrip- 
 tion, is entitled to receive £6, less any weekly payment he may 
 have received during the year while unemployed ; should snch pay- 
 ment amount to £4, he remains entitled to £2. 
 
 A member proceeding to England or Scotland, having paid fifty- 
 two weeks' subscription, is entitled to £2, less any weekly payments 
 he may have received during the year exceeding £2, but in any case, 
 he is entitled to receive 10s., payable once only within the same 
 twelve months. 
 
 The Society allows in book and jobbing offices two apprentices, if 
 two men are permanently employed, three to four men, four to six 
 men, five to nine men, and six to twelve men, or upwards, perma- 
 nently employed throughout the year. 
 
 In newspaper ofiices two apprentices are allowed, increased to 
 three where the ofiice has been in existence for twelve months, if 
 four men are employed ; and if six men are employed four appren- 
 tices are allowed, which number is the maximum. 
 
 A scale of prices mutually agreed upon by employers and employed 
 in 1829 regulates the rate of wages in Dublin ; supplementary rules 
 for newspaper offices, embodying the custom of the trade, were framed 
 in October, 1852. 
 
 The working hours are ten per diem, between six, seven, and eight 
 in the morning until the same hour in the evening, two hours being 
 allowed for meals. After eight to ten p.m. Zd. per hour extra is 
 charged, and from ten p.m. to six a.m. 6d. per hour extra. 
 
 Piece workers receive the same extra wages per hour for overtime 
 and nightwork as time workers, in addition to what they earn at 
 piece rates. 
 
 In book offices the rate of wages is 30«., and in newspaper offices 
 aiot less than 32s. 6d. per week. 
 
 The leading unionists in the printing trade seem to be convinced 
 that the interests of masters and men are mutual ; and that what tends 
 to the injury of the interests of either, must ultimately prove detri- 
 mental to both ; and in combining to protect themselves from the un- 
 principled masters who would take advantage of the isolated position of 
 an individual or a few, aim to regard the permanent interests of the 
 trade as a whole. Large associations, although more jjowerful for 
 
Printers' Strikes and Trade Unions. 89 
 
 evil when ruled over by injudicious counsel, exercise, when wisely 
 led, a greater controling power in the circuit under their influence 
 than small ones. A trade united in any extensive union is less 
 likely to fall under the leadership of men fluent in speech but defi- 
 cient in judgment, and more likely to have within it men of educa- 
 tion and ability above the common level, worthy of the trust com- 
 mitted to them by their fellow men. It seems to be generally 
 admitted, that society men in the printing trade are, as a rule, supe- 
 rior both in ability and steadiness to non-society men ; and taking non- 
 society men at a lower rate of wages is not by any means equivalent 
 to getting the work done cheaper, especially if quality is a considera- 
 tion. An employer of about twenty hands in a large provincial 
 town, says, " Some years ago my men became so careless and unruly, 
 that the overseers received a month's notice, and when a fortnight 
 had elapsed, every man and boy (not under indenture) received a 
 fortnight's notice, the whole leaving the premises at one time. 
 Others, non-society men, took their places. They were easily 
 obtained, and paid variously, some 5s., 3«., and 2s. each less than the 
 unionists. Their services were retained some three years. I am of 
 opinion that the inferiority of these men, as workmen, more than 
 counterbalanced the difference in wages, although they certainly were 
 a more satisfied and manageable class of persons. About twelve 
 months ago, on the entreaty of the unionists, they were again admitted. 
 By this trial I feel satisfied that the unionists are the better work- 
 men, so far as my particular trade is concerned, and confining my 
 observations to this locality." * 
 
 Many masters seem to admit the necessity of limiting the number 
 of apprentices in their offices, as each journeyman can only give 
 thorough instruction to a limited number of boys. The number of 
 apprentices allowed by the Association is probably amply sufficient to 
 supply any demand for their labour that may arise. 
 
 The unionists seem to entertain a strong feeling of ill-will against 
 the non-unionists as a body. It is unfortunate that, if the unionists 
 are superior as a body to the non-unionists, they are not above 
 making use of opprobrious epithets in speaking of those who stand 
 aloof from them, frequently not without reason. 
 
 No doubt the non-unionists do derive some advantage from the 
 Association in their trade to which they do not contribute, but this 
 does not justify the unionists in committing acts of petty tyranny and 
 intimidation, which are occasionally perpetrated by individuals, not 
 with the authority of the Association or Society, but still without its 
 condemnation. The employer already quoted says, " Unionists have 
 waylaid and made drunk non-unionists in my employ. In one in- 
 stance, where a man being fully engaged and terms agreed upon, 
 never came to his work, causing inconvenience, and who afterwards 
 told me of the means used in his case." 
 
 * Owing to the irregularities complained of by this employer, the Provincial 
 Association refused any strike allowance to these men, with the exception of three 
 or four individuals. 
 
90 Report on 
 
 It would be well if the Association could make interference with 
 the work of a non-unionist a finable offence ; and if the members were 
 as particular in reporting and condemning an act of tyranny committed 
 by one of themselves upon a brother, as an approach to an infringement 
 of one of their rules relating to hours of labour, or to the numl)er of 
 boys in the office. In so doing they would only be carrying out the very 
 Ijrinciple of justice on which their union professes to be based. Pro- 
 bably many who now stand aloof from the Typographical Association 
 might be induced to join if membership involved merely a payment 
 in support of the funds of the Association, and did not bind the indi- 
 vidual to the literal observance of rules which, even if, upon the 
 whole judicious, might occasionally be departed from under special 
 circumstances. 
 
 If the discretionary power allowed by the Central Executive to each 
 Branch Society, were granted by the Branch Society in the interpreta- 
 tion of its rules to each shop, the members would possess greater 
 liberty, and the masters would not be subject to annoyance arising 
 from a strict adhesion to the letter rather than the spirit of an asso- 
 ciation rule. 
 
 If it is essential to the well-being of the trade as a whole, that the 
 masters should respect the rights of those whose labour they employ; 
 it is also essential to the power and prosperity of unions established 
 to protect those rights, that they should interfere as little as possible 
 with the individual rights of each member. 
 
 In connexion with the Typographical Societies in large towns, 
 there are generally Libraries and Institutes, and always an office for 
 the payment of allowances to members of recognised societies on 
 tramp or on strike. In the circulars published monthly by the Pro- 
 vincial Typographical Association, any case of fraud, or attempted 
 imposition, or other unworthiness committed by a member, is pub- 
 lished to the entire trade. The Scottish Typographical Association 
 also publish a monthly circular, and a Journal of Typographic Arts 
 is published in Loudon. The following statistics will give some idea 
 of the jiosition of the Typographical Societies in relation to non- 
 unionists throughout the kingdom, and the various rates of wages 
 current in different localities. 
 
Printers' Strikes and Trade Unions. 
 
 91 
 
 STATISTICS OF THE TRADE. 
 
 Furnished to the Secretary of the Provincial Typographical Association, January, 1860. 
 
 Those towns marked (*) in the Provincial Typographical Association. IST, means News, J. 
 Jobbing ; "W. N. and D. X., Weekly and Daily News. 
 
 
 No 
 
 .of 
 
 No. 
 
 of Men Ejnployed. 
 
 Men out, or 
 
 No. 
 
 of Ap- 
 
 
 
 Non-Society Men. 
 
 only 
 
 casually 
 
 employed. 
 
 PLACES. 
 
 Offices. 
 
 iJ. 
 
 Con- 
 forming 
 
 Not 
 
 prein-iiyijo. 
 
 Recognised Wages. 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 to Prices 
 and 
 
 conform- 
 ing to 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .g 
 
 •S a 
 
 atj s 
 
 li 
 
 .^ m 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 § 
 
 " 
 
 Kegula- 
 tions. 
 
 ditto. 
 
 11 
 
 CO 
 
 ^p" 
 
 
 
 
 *Abcrdare . . . . 
 
 
 
 
 __ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21s. 
 
 Aberdeen . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Arbroath . . . . 
 
 1 
 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 20s. minimum. 
 
 Aylesbury . . . . 
 
 4 
 
 'i 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 "5 
 
 24s. 
 
 Ayr 
 
 3 
 
 
 12 
 
 '4 
 
 
 
 
 26 
 
 
 20s. 
 
 *Uanbury . . . . 
 
 5 
 
 i 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 _^ 
 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 24s. 
 
 Banff 
 
 1 
 
 ,, 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 _, 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 21s. 
 
 Bath 
 
 9 
 
 
 40 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 "s 
 
 '3 
 
 37 
 
 
 26s. 
 
 Binningham . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *Btackbum . . . . 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 ., 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 26s. 
 
 Bolton . . . . 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 21 
 
 6 
 
 27s. 
 
 *Boston . . . . 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 '5 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 21s. 
 
 *Bradford . . . . 
 
 16 
 
 4 
 
 38 
 
 2 
 
 
 "3 
 
 
 29 
 
 12 
 
 24s.i.; 263. n. 
 
 Brighton . . . . 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 26 
 
 5 
 
 
 3 
 
 'i 
 
 28 
 
 30 
 
 29s. 
 
 Bristol . . . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *Cardiff . . . . 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 13 
 
 7 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 12 
 
 5 
 
 21s.i.; 24s. n. 
 
 ♦Carlisle . . . . 
 
 9 
 
 
 34 
 
 3 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 36 
 
 
 21s.to26s,i.;25s.n. 
 
 Carlow . . . . 
 
 3 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 18s. 
 
 ^Chester . . . . 
 
 10 
 
 '2 
 
 17 
 
 
 '5 
 
 i? 
 
 "5 
 
 21 
 
 '4 
 
 2Ts. 
 
 •Chestei-fleld 
 
 2 
 
 
 5 
 
 '3 
 
 3 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 22s. 
 
 Clonmel . . . . 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 'i 
 
 .'-, 
 
 1 
 
 is 
 
 21s. 
 
 Cork 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 41 
 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 23 
 
 24s. to 32s. 
 
 *Darlington.. .. 
 
 .. 
 
 
 
 ., 
 
 
 
 .. 
 
 
 
 22s. 
 
 Devizes 
 
 5 
 
 
 '7 
 
 
 
 
 
 i? 
 
 
 22s. to 30s. 
 
 *Doncaster . . . . 
 
 4 
 
 .. 
 
 19 
 
 '2 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 10 
 
 
 22s. and 24s. 
 
 Dorchester. . 
 
 1 
 
 '3 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 '3 
 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 "s 
 
 20s. 
 
 Dublin . . . . 
 
 41 
 
 15 
 
 263 
 
 20 
 
 26 
 
 120 
 
 30 
 
 107 
 
 136 
 
 30s. j.; 32s. 6d. u. 
 
 Dumfries . . 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 16 
 
 4 
 
 20s. 
 
 *Durliam . . . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23s. 
 
 Edinburgh.. .. 
 
 56 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (2.5s., 26s., 28s., 
 1 and 32s. 6d. n. 
 
 Galway . . . . 
 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 ,. 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 20s. 
 
 Glasgow . , . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2.5s. 
 
 Greenock .. .. 
 
 '3 
 
 
 '9 
 
 '9 
 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 20s. 
 
 GuUdford .. .. 
 
 4 
 
 '2 
 
 16 
 
 
 "3 
 
 '3 
 
 
 7 
 
 '2 
 
 27s. 
 
 *Halifax . . . . 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 "9 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 
 14 
 
 14 
 
 24s. 
 
 *Hartlepool . . . . 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 'i 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 24s. 
 
 •Hereford . . . . 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 19 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 '4 
 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 21s. j. ; 24s. n. 
 
 »Huddersfleld . . 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 22 
 
 7 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 26 
 
 9 
 
 24s. and 26s. 
 
 Hull 
 
 69 
 
 
 79 
 
 24 
 
 '3 
 
 11 
 
 '4 
 
 98 
 
 
 24s.; 21s. district. 
 
 *Kendal . . . . 
 
 6 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 .. 
 
 13 
 
 
 24s. 
 
 Kilkenny .. .. 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 8 
 
 '3 
 
 20s. to 27s. 
 
 Kilmarnock 
 
 4 
 
 
 7 
 
 '2 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 20s. 
 
 Leeds 
 
 35 
 
 '3 
 
 132 
 
 
 'e 
 
 31 
 
 
 64 
 
 
 2Ss. 
 
 Leicester .. .. 
 
 15 
 
 
 25 
 
 ii 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 34 
 
 
 24s. 
 
 Lewes 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 IS 
 
 
 "7 
 
 1 
 
 
 12 
 
 is 
 
 29s. 
 
 Limerick . . . . 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 5 
 
 20 
 
 20s. 
 
 *Liverpool . . . . 
 
 39 
 
 21 
 
 336 
 
 
 
 125 
 
 
 64 
 
 
 30s. 
 
 Macclesfleld 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 "4 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 '2 
 
 24s. 
 
 *Maidstonc . . . . 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 '4 
 
 i 
 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 25s. 
 
 ♦Manchester 
 
 56 
 
 3 
 
 370 
 
 
 6 
 
 110 
 
 
 113 
 
 10 
 
 30s. to 40s. 
 
 *Mertliyr-Tydfll. . 
 
 5 
 
 
 7 
 
 '3 
 
 __ 
 
 
 .. 
 
 6 
 
 -. 
 
 21s. 
 
 Montrose .. ., 
 
 4 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 'e 
 
 
 .. 
 
 23 
 
 
 20s. 
 
 "^Xewport . . 
 
 4 
 
 '3 
 
 20 
 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 S 
 
 '7 
 
 24s. 
 
 Xi'1-thanipton .. 
 
 8 
 
 
 17 
 
 '3 
 
 .. 
 
 -. 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 26s. 
 
92 
 
 Report on Printers' Strikes and Trade Unions. 
 
 PLACES. 
 
 
 
 Xo. of Men Emploj-cd. 
 
 Men out, or 
 
 only 
 casually 
 cmiiloyed. 
 
 
 
 Kecognised Wages. 
 
 No. of 
 Oftices. 
 
 1 
 
 Non-Society Men. 
 
 No. of Ap- 
 prentices. 
 
 Con- 
 forniintf 
 to Prices 
 
 and 
 Eeguia- 
 
 tions. 
 
 Not 
 conform- 
 ing to 
 ditto. 
 
 s 
 
 U 
 
 P 
 
 m 
 
 •as 
 1% 
 
 - = i 
 
 "SB 
 
 1^0 
 
 Jfci-T^icli . . . . 
 *Xottin;4ham 
 
 12 
 
 
 4D 
 
 28 
 
 17 
 
 i 
 
 '3 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 2 
 1 
 5 
 3 
 
 '4 
 2 
 
 50 
 
 'i 
 
 16 
 
 'i 
 
 2 
 
 "i 
 
 26 
 5 
 
 '2 
 
 "i 
 
 '5 
 2 
 
 '4 
 
 4 
 
 'i 
 
 ■; 
 
 'i 
 
 "s 
 
 2 
 5 
 
 49 
 
 10 
 6 
 
 16 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 is 
 
 10 
 8 
 21 
 12 
 31 
 
 1 
 12 
 '4 
 
 19 
 
 '3 
 unkn. 
 
 21s. 
 
 27s. ; 32s. d. 
 
 243. 
 
 27s. 
 
 24s. 
 
 24s. 
 
 21s. 
 
 ( 28s. J. and w. n. ; 
 
 ( 33s. d. n. 
 
 21s. j.; 24s. n. 
 
 24s. j.; 25s. n. 
 
 203. 
 
 21s. 
 
 243. 
 
 243. 
 
 2O3. 
 
 153. 
 
 27s. 
 
 24s. and 26s. 
 
 24s. 
 
 24s. 
 
 *rrcstou .. .. 
 Koelidale . . . . 
 
 Kugby 
 
 Scarborough 
 
 »Slieffleia . . . . 
 
 Shrewsbiiry 
 *Stafford . . . . 
 
 StlriinK . . . . 
 *Stockton-on-Tees 
 *Sunderlaud 
 
 Warwick .. .. 
 
 Watertoi-d . . . . 
 
 "Wcxfurd . . . . 
 ♦IVigan . . . . 
 *'Wolverhami)ton . 
 *'\Vorcester .. .. 
 •York 
 
 3 
 5 
 
 25 
 
 10 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 e 
 
 5 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 8 
 16 
 
 "i 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 'i 
 
 'h 
 
 'i 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 
 7 
 8 
 
 76 
 
 S3 
 19 
 9 
 3 
 19 
 
 ie 
 
 12 
 16 
 34 
 
 28 
 14 
 
SOME ACCOUNT 
 
 OP 
 
 THE LONDON CONSOLIDATED 
 
 SOCIETY OF BOOKBINDERS. 
 
 PREPARED FOR 
 
 ffifje Watinnal association for tijc ^tomotioit a£ Social Science, 
 
 AT THE BEQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE ON TEADES' SOCIETIES. 
 
 By T. J. DUNNING, 
 
 SECRETARY OP THE BOOKBINDERS' SOCIETY. 
 
 This Society took its rise as follows. In 1780, and for some time 
 previously, a society of bookbinders existed, for social and convivial 
 purposes, called the " Friends," whicb met at the " One Tun," in the 
 Strand. At this time the vsrorking day of the bookbinders was from 
 six to eight ; which, if two hours for meals be deducted therefrom, 
 leaves twelve clear working hours. There is every reason to believe, 
 from a subsequent strike, that no time for tea was allowed, in which 
 case the working day would be twelve hours and a half. These long 
 hours, it may be easily conceived, when many trades worked from six 
 to six, or from the hour at which they began in the morning to the 
 same hour in the evening, were felt to be an intolerable grievance, 
 and became naturally the subject of conversation at the meetings of 
 this society of " Friends." 
 
 The idea of getting off one hour was mooted among this society 
 by a member named Lovejoy, who was the first, or among the very 
 first, to broach it. After a while, in 1785, this contemplated" reduc- 
 tion caused another society to be formed at the " Green Man," in Bow 
 Street, called the " Brothers ;" and, soon afterwards, a third, at the 
 " Jolly Butchers," "Warwick Lane, called the " City Brothers." 
 
 These three societies do not appear to have been formed as trades' 
 unions properly so called. The first was instituted merely for the 
 purpose — as the phrase was — of "taking a social pint of porter 
 together." Nor does it appear, until the intention of getting off the 
 hour was formed, that it was used, or intended to be used, for any other 
 purpose than that of " social harmony." The other two were doubt- 
 less called into existence by the intention of obtaining the hour ; but 
 there is no evidence that they were united as integral parts of one 
 
94 Some Account of the 
 
 society. No doubt, as the time approached when they intended to 
 apply for this reduction, they drew together in union, to act in 
 concert, and to get all in the trade to act with them. For this 
 purpose, the " Friends" called, by advertisement in the newspapers, a 
 meetino- of all the men in their trade in the metropolis. This meet- 
 ino-, which was held at the " Green Man," Bow Street, was attended 
 by nearly all the journeymen bookbinders in London, when the 
 movement for obtaining the hour was unanimously resolved on ; and 
 eventually, committees from each of these societies were organized for 
 that purpose; and it was determined in March, 1786, to apply for the 
 hour at four of the principal shops in the trade, by giving a Aveek's 
 notice to leave if it were refased. It was refused by each of these 
 employers ; and what followed will be seen by the following extract 
 from an address to the public published by the men in large placards, 
 and afterwards in the Mornmg Herald of May 9th, 1786. 
 
 " Above eighty men have been discharged from their employment, 
 without a minute's notice, only for countenancing a few men in their 
 profession or opinion that thirteen hours per day were sufficient for 
 a day's work in their laborious calling ; the stated hours being from 
 six in the morning to eight in the evening, and the usual wages being 
 from 15*. to 18«. a week, with some few men at a guinea." 
 
 The address goes on to state that, not satisfied with this, the em- 
 ployers had caused the men to be repeatedly discharged from other 
 shops ; and — women being largely employed in folding and sewing 
 together the sheets of books — "deprived their wives of earning 
 a maintenance ;" and had caused " the magistrates to apprehend 
 twenty-four of the men, some of whom had received the usage above 
 related." The address continues: — 
 
 " It is their desire at all times to conduct themselves with submis- 
 sion to their superiors, considering themselves in a subordinate state. 
 Nevertheless, they cannot help considering that they are men, and, 
 as,' s,uch, sensible of the oppression they labour under. They hope 
 none Vill believe them actuated with motives adverse to the interests 
 of theii" employers, or linked in combination to obstruct their busi- 
 ness ; they reprobate every idea repugnant to justice, and ground no 
 claim but on principles of equity." The address concludes by leaving 
 "the innocence of their intention, the justice of their cause, and their 
 whole deportment, to the decision of a candid and unbiased court." 
 
 On the other side, the following address was published in the 
 Morning Chronicle, April 6th, 1786, by the " Booksellers of the cities 
 of London and Westminster." It stated, that they had heard the 
 complaints of the master bookbinders of the combination entered 
 into to compel them to abridge the usual hours of labour ; and, after 
 having carefully considered the reasons assigned by the journeymen, 
 they were of opinion, that the " opposition of the masters was well 
 founded, and the pretences of the workmen groundless." The address 
 concluded as follows : — 
 
 " It is, therefore, the determination of the boojisellers to give the 
 master bookbinders all the legal support in their power against the 
 
London Consolidated Society of Bookbinders. 95 
 
 unjustifiable confederacy, by procuring for them every indulgence, 
 in point of time, till their journeymen are brought to a proper sense 
 of then- duty and their interest, either by a due consideration of the 
 folly and imprudence of their present conduct, or by the interposition 
 of the laws, which have wisely provided suitable punishments for 
 such offences against order and good government." 
 
 It is hoped that the interest to know how a lock-out was carried 
 on seventy-four years ago will excuse these extracts and the subsequent 
 details relating to it. It was on a small scale, there not being at 
 that period more than a hundred bookbinders employed in London ; 
 but such as it was, it appears to have been very perfectly carried out. 
 
 One of the four shops at which the movement commenced — we 
 say movement, because the intended strike was anticipated by what 
 is now called a lock-out — was that of the before mentioned Mr. 
 Lovejoy, who in the- interim had become possessed of capital and had 
 set up in business. His opinion on the subject, however, had under- 
 gone during the intervening period a complete change, but his energy 
 had sustained no diminution. As he had been when a journeyman 
 among the most active in inciting the men to get this hour reduced, 
 so he was now the most energetic among the employers in resisting, 
 and inciting others to resist, the application of the men for its reduc- 
 tion. He discharged the whole of his men immediately upon receiv- 
 ing the notice, and, it is highly probable, caused the other masters, 
 who had entered into a combination themselves to oppose the reduc- 
 tion, to do the same. 
 
 This combination, however, did not include all the employers, 
 though it did the greater part. Some gave the hour readily when 
 asked for it. These, however, were exceptions. 
 
 There was at this period, in the then Buckingham Palace, a room 
 fitted up as a bookbinder's shop ; where several men and women 
 were employed, to bind for, and keep in repair, the royal library at 
 St. James's, which George the Third used frequently to visit, to whom, 
 apparently, the various processes used in the binding of books were 
 highly interesting. 
 
 His Majesty was the first to give the hour, being requested to do 
 so by his "finisher,"* John Polwarth. Digressing for a moment : as 
 the King often came, clean aprons were always kept to be put on 
 when it was known he was coming, and the men were instructed to 
 proceed with their work when he was there as if no one was present. 
 If he asked any questions, which was not unfrequently the case, they 
 were directed respectfully to answer them to the fuU, but no more ; 
 and to use the word " Sir," instead of any designation of royalty. 
 
 The masters who refused the hour formed themselves into a society 
 to resist the reduction, and to prosecute the men for conspiracy ; 
 twenty-four of ^yhom were; indicted, and held to bail, May 1st, 1786, 
 for this offence. Of these, five were found guilty, as, according to 
 
 * Those who work the gold and other ornamental work on the cover, and who 
 "letter" the titles on the backs of the books, are termed "finishers." 
 
96 Some Account of the 
 
 the then state of the law, they undoubtedly were. The judge before 
 whom they were tried, said he should not then pass sentence, but 
 leave them until next sessions out on bail ; when, if they did not 
 return to their work, he should pass a severe one. They did not 
 return to their work, and the judge kept his word, by sentencing 
 them each to two yeai's' imprisonment in the gaol of Newgate, on the 
 felons' side. It is impossible not to admire the constancy of these 
 men ; they knew that a severe sentence awaited them if they per- 
 sisted — and imprisonment of any duration, in the then sanitary state 
 of our prisons, was a punishment involving imminent danger to their 
 health, and perhaps to their lives ; indeed, one of their number sunk 
 under it, and died in prison — yet, believing themselves to be in the 
 right, they did persist, in what they believed to be a sacred duty. 
 An amusing incident occurred on this trial. The conduct of Mr. 
 Lovejoy — who was most energetic, as a member of the employers' 
 society, for the prosecution, and as a witness against the men, after 
 his having, as before described, been among the most active when a 
 journeyman in inciting the men to strike for the hour — excited, as 
 may be supposed, the indignation of his former companions ; and 
 some of the younger of them sent him a halter in a parcel, with a note 
 requesting him to use it. On the day of trial, while Mr. Lovejoy was, 
 in company with others of the employers, waiting to be examined as a 
 witness, with the halter in his pocket to produce in the court, one 
 of the men, who, though on good terms with the masters, shared in 
 the general indignation, notified to the men's committee, that if they 
 would provide him with a bottle of rum or bi-audy he would endea- 
 vour to get the halter. With this bottle and a glass he made his 
 way to where Mr. Lovejoy was standing, squeezed in beside him, and 
 requested them all to drink, giving this gentleman the bottle and glass 
 to help the other employers ; and while so employed, his coat-pocket 
 was relieved of the halter by the man who had so kindly treated the 
 company. The halter was immediately sent to the men's committee, 
 burnt, and a note sent to Mr. (afterwards Lord) Erskine, who, with 
 Mr. Sylvester and Mr. (afterwards Baron) Garrow, was retained for 
 the defence, stating what had been done. When Mr. Lovejoy, who 
 did not appear to have been aware of his loss, was examined, he Was 
 requested to produce the halter of which he had spoken so much in his 
 evidence, or, in the words stated to have been used by Mr. Erskine, 
 about which "he had made such a cock and a bull story." He felt 
 first in one pocket and then in the other, in stujaid, perhaps half- 
 tipsy amazement at not finding it, to the great merriment of the court, 
 of which Mr. Erskine did not fail to take advantage. There is a 
 tradition, that Judge Ashurst, before whom they were tried — who 
 perhaps guessed how it was, — after this and some other "smart 
 checks," interfered in a most unusual manner against the defendants. 
 Of this, however, as we have not been able to see a report of the 
 trial, the Sessions Papers of 1786 and 1787 having been looked 
 through in vain for it, we can say nothing. 
 
 The "lock-out" did not change the original determination of the 
 
London Consolidated Society of Bookbinders. 97 
 
 men to strike; which, aggravated to great intensity by this prosecu- 
 tion, was kept up most pertinaciously. 
 
 The Society was now formed in permanence and in good earnest. 
 Adequate subscriptions were paid by each member, to meet the ex- 
 penses of the trial, and other ti-ades were solicited for pecuniary aid, 
 which was readily given; the printers being among the most liberal. 
 While in prison, the men were each allowed a guinea a week, and the 
 families of those who had them were allowed the same. Their names 
 were Thomas Armstrong, WiUiam Craig, Patrick Lilburn, Thomas 
 Fairbairn, and William Wood ; the last named " took fever," and, as 
 before observed, died in prison. 
 
 At the liberation of the four who remained, they were each pro- 
 vided with a sum of money, to enable them, if they thought fit, to go 
 into business — as it was not likely they would obtain employment 
 in London as journeymen — which they did, except Mr. Lilburn, 
 who went into the country. 
 
 The strike was successful. The men were liberated at the end of 
 about twelve months' confinement, on the 28th of June, through the 
 intervention of Sir Matthew Bloxam, Knt., Sheriff, and stationer ; 
 whose attention was drawn to their case by a Mr. Truman, his hair- 
 dresser. These particulars are mentioned because the " anniversary" 
 of the liberation of these men, until 1827, formed a part of the con- 
 stitution of the Society, funds being expressly set apart for an anni- 
 versary dinner on the 28th of June to commemorate that event, 
 at which the healths of all the parties were drunk when living, and 
 afterwards, " in solemn silence," their memory received the same 
 honour. As it was necessary that the accounts of the members 
 should be made up, and the money — so much from each — for the " anni- 
 versary" set apart for its celebration, the year of the Society was 
 declared to commence on the June night of meeting, which continues 
 to this day ; by which this event was further commemorated. These 
 things are mentioned, as they serve to show how deeply such events 
 as those here narrated impress themselves on the minds of working men. 
 
 The Society was formed into three lodges, one meeting at the West- 
 end, and the other two in the City ; a committeeman from each 
 sitting every Saturday evening at one of the public-houses where a 
 lodge met, to receive members and for other purposes. The lodges 
 met once a month, refreshments being provided from the funds, after- 
 wards by refreshment tickets, usually 5d. in value, which were given 
 to those who attended. The entrance fee was 21s., and the monthly 
 contributions for a considerable time did not exceed \s. %d.; they are 
 now, and have been for upwards of forty years, 2s. Within the last 
 few years, the admission fee has been \0s. 6d. to those who join 
 within three months after they have served their apprenticeship. 
 
 The " second hour " was obtained in 1794, by mutual agreement, 
 after considerable negotiation. As, in consequence of meeting in 
 public-houses, there was no proper depository for the books of the 
 Society, those of this period, and many others, are lost, so that the 
 exact terms of this arrangement are not known, and, indeed, have been 
 
 H 
 
98 Some Account of the 
 
 disputed. Whatever tliey may have been, the fact is certain, that 
 they only could have been arranged by the men in combination, and 
 from the following article of the rules, " agreed to take place imme- 
 diately after the anniversary of 1798," it v?ould appear that it was 
 arranged with a combination of employers, and given by them before 
 it was given by the employers generally throughout the trade. 
 
 " Seventh. Every employer who gives the last hour, and wages 
 adequate to ability, shall be as equally respected as those who form 
 the Masters' Society." 
 
 About this period, 1794, a fourth lodge was formed, and the 
 number of members had increased to 170. 
 
 The " half hour " yet remained, which was the subject of a strike 
 in 1806. By many this was thought ill advised, because the half 
 hour was readily given by several employers when asked for ; and 
 from the fact that it was clearly the interest of employers to grant it 
 in consequence of much more work being done in a given time after 
 tea through the refreshing power of that meal than in the same num- 
 ber of hours before. This strike, however, roused their combative 
 spirit, and probably through its being felt to be ill-advised by the men, 
 it was unsuccessful. At the end of about seven weeks the men with- 
 drew from the contest, and, in printed notices addressed to the employ- 
 ers, promised that it should not be the occasion of future difficulty 
 between them. This " half hour," however, was in the course of a 
 few years given by all the employers, as probably it would have been 
 much earlier but for the strike. It is singular that neither Mr. Craig 
 nor Mr. Armstrong, two of the before mentioned defendants, who 
 were then in business, gave the "half hour." This strike cost 
 £451 \2>s. 9d., the whole of which, except £3 Is. Od. donations, was 
 defrayed by the Society. Of this, £139 7*. Od. were borrowed, 
 which were repaid in 1807. 
 
 In 1811, remembering, doubtless, the prosecutions of 1786, the 
 Society maintained an action against Mr. Fraser (Pratt v. Fraser), 
 one of the prosecutors of that period, for infringing the statute of 
 5 Elizabeth, c. 4, s. 31, requiring an apprenticeship of seven years 
 before exercising a trade. This action, upon which a verdict was 
 obtained, was tried June 6th, 1811, before Lord EUenborough, who ob- 
 served, "I have no particular zeal for carrying into effect this Act; 
 but my zeal and my anxiety are to do my duty, and to enforce what ap- 
 pears to be the true sense of the Act ; which Act, in reference to the 
 business in hand, enforces a penalty of 40s. per month for each man so 
 illegally employed. I suppose," addressing Mr. Garrow, the plaintiff's 
 counsel, " there is nothing vindictive in this prosecution : you merely 
 wish to establish the case, and do not sue for the whole penalty ?" 
 This being left to his Lordship, under his direction a verdict of 
 40s. was found in each case. Lord EUenborough, soon afterwards, 
 brought in a bill for the repeal of this Act of Elizabeth, which became 
 law; when he remarked that he was induced to do so by having had 
 to preside at a trial some time previously in which its penalties had 
 been enforced ; he thought those penalties wrong, and he brought in 
 
London Consolidated Society of Bookbinders. 99 
 
 this bill to repeal the Act which enforced them. Did his Lordship 
 allude to this trial ? 
 
 The Society went on increasing ; in 1820 the number of members 
 was 477, when another lodge was formed, making five, three of which 
 were held in the City, and two at the West-end. In this year also, 
 the annual accounts, as audited, were printed ; and in 1824 the names 
 of all the members, with the sums paid by each, and arrears, if any, 
 appended to each name, were inserted; to which, in 1844, was added 
 a column indicating when the member joined, and how long he has 
 been a member of the Society. In 1828 the articles of the Society 
 were first printed. Owing to the laws against combinations, by which 
 — previous to 1825, when they were repealed — it and all similar 
 societies were illegal, the articles were written, a copy of them was 
 kept in each lodge box, and read to the members every quarterly 
 night. It was then the practice for each member " to sign the articles," 
 blank leaves being left for that purpose. 
 
 In 1826 (number of members 560) a strike took place against a 
 reduction of wages in the shops working for the Society for Promot- 
 ing Christian Knowledge, which lasted from August to September, 
 when the reduction was acceded to. The cost was about £100. This 
 reduction taking place so soon after the " anniversary," upon which 
 a considerable sum had been expended, led the members seriously to 
 consider whether it was wise to continue so large an annual expen- 
 diture for this purpose, to the jeopardy of their present prosperity; 
 and the more, as it was believed that the employers had waited until 
 this had taken place that their success in the proposed reduction 
 might be made more sure. It was, therefore, as an annual celebration 
 from the funds of the Society, discontinued in 1827. 
 
 In 1829 a Committee was formed which established the Book- 
 binders' Pension Society, out of which, in 1837, was formed the 
 Asylum Society, whose almshouses are situate in Balls Pond Eoad. 
 Both Societies are largely supported by the journeymen in the 
 trade. 
 
 Another strike took place in 1832 on the work of the British and 
 Foreign Bible Society. This lasted some months, during which the 
 work in dispute was to a great extent changed in the manner of 
 executing it. Of this strike it may be said, that both parties gained 
 the day, for the masters did not give way to the, men, nor the men 
 give way to the masters. Trade being good, the men, for the most 
 part, got into work, and each did without the other, until the mode of 
 doing the work being changed, the cause of the dispute ceased. 
 
 In 1839 (number of members 841) a dispute occurred in four of the 
 principal shops of the trade, about the number of apprentices and 
 other matters. The employers had formed an "Association," and 
 being conscious of the power of combination, were, as it appears to 
 the writer, led to act with as much indiscretion as they imputed to 
 their men. Both erred in different directions and on different matters, 
 but both were equally unwise. And, as a necessary consequence, 
 there was no lack on either side of acts of mutual exasperation: which 
 
 h2 
 
100 Some Account of the 
 
 resulted in the following resolutions of the Employers' Association at 
 a special meeting held at Anderton's Hotel, January 9th, 1839: — 
 
 " Resolved, that the members of this Association pledge themselves 
 to discharge from their employment all men who continue to belong 
 to the journeymen's Society (as now illegally constituted) on the 19th 
 of January instant, unless the pending differences be amicably settled 
 in the mean time. 
 
 " Resolved, that the above resolution be forthwith printed and 
 affixed in every member's shop." 
 
 The men had complained of the members of this Association 
 combining to refuse employment to men who happened to be dis- 
 charged by any of its members ; and upon an instance of this kind 
 taking place at one of the four shops before mentioned, the men re- 
 fused to work over hours until the grievance was removed. They 
 complained also, that when a deputation of the men waited upon 
 this firm, December 29th, 1838, at its own request, to inform it why 
 they so refused, this firm, upon being informed the cause, namely, 
 the proscription of certain of the men, broke up the conference in 
 anger, and gave notice on the following Saturday to the whole of their 
 men, about ninety in number, to leave their employment, and gave 
 the five men who formed the deputation into custody on an indict- 
 ment for conspiracy. 
 
 Under these circumstances, it was not very likely that the '' pend- 
 ing differences " would be " amicably settled," especially as eleven 
 more of the men had been included in an indictment for conspiracy. 
 
 In this dispute many of the smaller employers sided with the men. 
 On the other hand, the booksellers, as in 1786, took part with the 
 employers. The number of men discharged by these firms was about 
 250; and notwithstanding that a very fair opportunity offered itself in 
 February for adjusting the differences, such was the ill-feeling on part 
 of tl»e men, caused chiefly by the prosecutions, that they would not 
 listen to the proposed arrangement. The dispute, therefore, went on 
 until the following September, when both parties, worn out in the con- 
 test, agreed, the oneto abandon the lock-out and the prosecutions, which 
 had been meanwhile moved by the employers to the court of Queen's 
 Bench, and the other to withdraw the rules concerning apprentices. 
 Thus terminated a dispute which lasted eight months, and which cost 
 altogether nearly £6,000. Of this sum £1,339 Os. Id. were obtained 
 by subscriptions and donations from different trades and other sources ; 
 the rest, including £1,563 loans from different trade societies and indi- 
 viduals, was paid by the members of the Society. To do which there 
 was a payment of 2s. 6d. weekly from each member for thirty-nine 
 weeks, of 1*. weekly for thirteen weeks, and Qd. weekly for thirteen 
 weeks. The whole of the loans were not repaid until 1847. Incon- 
 sequence of the inconvenience during this dispute, and the enormous 
 expense incurred in conducting it, through meeting in public-houses, 
 it was determined in 1840 to consolidate the five lodges into one, 
 to have a permanent secretary, and to have the house of call at a 
 coffee-house, at which the secretary should sit daily from ten to five : 
 
London Consolidated Society of Bookbinders. 101 
 
 an arrangement by whicli the facilities for a better understanding 
 of all that relates to a trade society were insured. It is possible, 
 under the best arrangement, that errors may be committed, but they 
 are far less likely to occur with men meeting in the private room of 
 a coffee-house than in the half-intoxicating atmosphere of a public- 
 house; the monthly meetings were also changed from public-houses 
 to an assembly room. There was also an attempt made to amal- 
 gamate with the country societies, who had rendered great assistance 
 in the late struggle ; this, however, was not attended with success, 
 being after a few months abandoned. Since this period there have 
 been comparatively few disputes, and, excepting the two we are about 
 to mention, none of any magnitude. These two, which were both re- 
 specting the work of the British and Foreign Bible Society, took the 
 form of controversies in print instead of " strikes." The first occurred 
 in 1842, in which what the men contended for was conceded ; the 
 second in 1849 (number of members 679), in which it was contended 
 that the Bible Society was effecting its cheapness in the price of 
 Bibles and Testamente out of the wages of labour, chiefly that of the 
 women's. This was set forth in three publications : the first, entitled 
 an " Appeal " to the Committee and Subscribers of the British and 
 Foreign Bible Society " on the Subject of Cheap Bibles "; the second, 
 an " Address " on the answers given to the " Appeal "; and the third, 
 a "Reply" to the Report of a Sub-Committee of an Auxiliary Society, 
 who answered in behalf of the parent Society. It is not necessary 
 here to go into the merits of this controversy ; the result was an 
 amelioration of many of the things complained of, at least for the 
 time. There was, however, an untoward circumstance which arose 
 out of this affair. The women, who had not then seen the " Appeal," 
 were applied to, as they alleged, by the forewoman of the contractress 
 to sign a paper, stating that they had nothing to do with the getting 
 up of the " Appeal," which being undoubtedly true, many of them 
 readily signed, without having the paper read to them. When the 
 signatures were obtained, they were told by the forewoman of its 
 contents, which were as follows : 
 
 " 22 August, 1848. 
 
 " From the women employed at Mr. (Miss) Watkin's establishment, 
 to show that they are perfectly satisfied with the work and prices 
 paid for all the Society work. 
 
 " Signed in the presence of Mrs. Lewis." 
 
 To this they instantly demurred, and insisted upon its withdrawal, 
 which was not at that time acceded to. This paper was believed by 
 them intended to be sent to the Bible Society as an answer to the 
 statements in the "Appeal." Meanwhile the women had obtained some 
 copies of the " Appeal," and they who had signed it refused to work 
 until it was returned. It was, however, after a day or two, though 
 with some reluctance, returned to them. In the excitement and re- 
 crimination attendant upon such a circumstance occurring with up- 
 •wards of a hundred women, who were at that time employed by the 
 contractress for this work, they, against the advice of the committee 
 
102 Some Account of the 
 
 of the men's Society, entered into a strike against the grievances men- 
 tioned in the " Appeal," which much complicated the matter. These 
 publications were addressed and sent by post to the members of the 
 Bible Society, it being hoped that they would not continue to enforce 
 a cheapness which, it was alleged, could only be brought about by 
 trenching upon the wages chiefly of the women's labour employed 
 thereon. And it was argued in them, that however desirable it 
 might be to have Bibles and religious publications produced cheaply, 
 it did not become religious societies, whose very existence depended 
 on the charitable donations of the pious, to contend in the market, 
 and to avail themselves, with the work-people employed in producing 
 these books, of all the means which would be, and are, used by a 
 " cutting " dealer to undersell his rivals in the market. 
 
 An event followed this controversy, the last we shall have to record, 
 which was unexpected. For a long time previous, there had been 
 manifested a strong desire on part of a minority in the Society to 
 return to meeting in public-houses. It was urged that the same num- 
 bers did not attend the monthly meetings of the Society as when they 
 were drawn together by the drinking tickets, — which was undoubtedly 
 correct ; but it was altogether forgotten by those who urged this 
 objection, that the members, who heretofore could only pay their 
 money by attending the monthly meetings, that being the only time 
 and place in which it could be paid, now could, if they pleased, pay 
 it weekly without attending the monthly meeting at all ; and still more, 
 that although it was true that the attendances at these meetings were 
 larger when in public-houses, yet in many instances, from the evils 
 arising out of the means of excitement and of intoxication being 
 present, their decisions showed that they had in this way better have 
 not met at all. There was also discontent at the " anniversary" being 
 discontinued. 
 
 In consequence, from time to time there were resolutions brought 
 before the Society to return to the old system of public-house manage- 
 ment, which were always negatived. To enjoy this " sociality," as it 
 was called, certain of the "finishers," who also thought their interests 
 were not sufficiently attended to, formed themselves into an " associa- 
 tion," which example was followed by some of the " forwarders."* 
 These two associations gave the means and facilities, though certainly 
 not intended by many of their members, of embarrassing the " manage- 
 ment" of the Society. Shortly previous to this controversy, and after 
 it had commenced, this party had moved for a return to the old system 
 of public-house meetings, the decision to be taken by ballot, and were 
 apparently confident of success. The "Appeal" appeared a few 
 days before the ballot was taken ; when the higher position taken by 
 the Society in this controversy, and its manifest superiority over any 
 mode of " striking," or indeed any means that had been before em- 
 ployed by it to support the interests of those who belonged to the 
 
 * A " forwarder " is the workman who binds the book before it is " finished " by 
 having the " lettering " and ornamental work added thereto. 
 
London Consolidated Society of Bookbinders. 103 
 
 ■working portion of the trade, which could only have taken place 
 under the present mode of conducting its affairs, were thought by 
 this party to be the cause of the result of this ballot being against 
 them. The majority however was not very large. The " Finishers' " 
 Association had published for some time previously a Quarterly Cir- 
 cular, which, except in its violence, was highly creditable to them, and 
 which had been used as a means of attacking the " management" of 
 the Society, chiefly on account of its opposition to meeting in public- 
 houses. It was now used to attack the statements of the Society made 
 in the "Appeal," by impugning the motives that led to their publication, 
 and insinuating that the statements themselves were untrue. The 
 Secretary, who was the writer of the " Appeal," upon this, declared 
 to the Society, that unless these charges were repudiated by the 
 members who belonged to this Association, either he must cease to 
 be their secretary, or they must quit the Society. The Society decided 
 in favour of the latter alternative, and required this repudiation in 
 writing, or expulsion. And although the far greater number of this 
 association were entirely ignorant of what their Circular contained 
 until they saw it in print, and disapproved of it when they did 
 see it, they refused the alternative oifered by the Society, and were 
 expelled. 
 
 It was an error to require the repudiation in writing — it was too 
 much like signing a " document." 
 
 These being joined by most of the members of the Forwarders' 
 Association and others, formed themselves into a society called the 
 " Dayworkers," confining the support in disputes for wages to " day- 
 workers " alone. " Piece workers " might join, but they would receive 
 no support in any dispute respecting wages. This Society held its 
 meetings and house of call in public-houses, in the old style, and was 
 soon joined by those who preferred that mode of conducting the busi- 
 ness of a trade society. The celebration of the "anniversary " on the 
 28th of June was also made a part, as heretofore, of the constitution 
 of this Society. 
 
 It should be noticed, that when this Society was formed, the 
 Finishers' Circular, the cause of the rupture which took place, was 
 discontinued, as were also the "Forwarders'" and the "Finishers'" 
 Associations. Although a retrograde movement, and as such to be de- 
 plored, yet it is certain, from the increase hitherto of that Society, that 
 drinking usages have yet, though much less than formerly, a strong 
 hold on the working classes. But on the other hand, it cannot be 
 doubted that the influence of these usages' is gradually declining. 
 
 In October, 1850, a publication entitled the Bookbinders'' Trade 
 Circular was first issued, " to furnish information on the various 
 subjects connected with the trade," which appears once in two months, 
 and which continues to the present time. There was, however, 
 October 18th, 1855, a proposition brought forward to discontinue its 
 publication, which was negatived. 
 
 The benefits of the Society are the right to receive 8«. Qd. a week 
 when out of work, for ten weeks ; 
 
104 Some Account of the London Society of Bookbinders. 
 
 To apply for a petition when sick, that is, to receive Qd. from each 
 member ; 
 
 And to receive support in the event of any dispute, supposing that 
 the proceedings of the members relating thereto have received the 
 sanction of the committee. 
 
 The allowance to men out of employ was not given for many years 
 after the Society was established, which would indicate that many 
 men were not at that time unemployed. Its amount was at first 7«. 
 per week, and was received for an unlimited number of weeks, com- 
 mencing when a certain number — which varied at different times, in 
 1820 it was fifteen — were out of employ. In 1828 it was limited to 
 ten weeks for each, without requiring any specific number to be out 
 before its payment commenced. In 1855 it was raised to its present 
 amount (8«. Qd.) for the same number of weeks. 
 
 Previous to December, 1856, petitions used to be voluntary contri- 
 butions from each shop, which used to be collected by two persons 
 to each district appointed for that purpose. 
 
 There are also six pensioners, two at 3«. a week and four at 2s. Qd. 
 Amount paid to unemployed members for the last eight years was 
 £3,339 As. 6d.; m disputes on wages, prices, &c., for the same period, 
 £103 Os. lOd. ; for the sick by petition in the same time, £1,528 9s. 6d. ; 
 and to the library £10 a year is applied for the purchase of books. 
 This library, which for some time was the only one connected with 
 a ti-ade society, was commenced in 1847, by the binding up of the 
 periodicals with which the house of call was supplied, it now consists 
 of about 1,800 volumes. 
 
 The number at present on the books of the Society is 634, on the 
 books of the Dayworkers' Society 357, total 991. 
 
 The differences alluded to which caused the separation are now for- 
 gotten; indeed, the changes of ten years have reduced the original 
 seceders to a very small minority ; the great majority now of that 
 Society having joined since that event. Although apart, there is not 
 the smallest doubt, should occasion require it, that both would unite 
 and act the same as if they never had been separated. 
 
 Such are the principal events of the Bookbinders' Consolidated 
 Society ; and if the narration be thought long and imperfect, it 
 should be remembered that it embraces a period of seventy-four years, 
 and that it is largely compiled, not from the books of the Society, 
 many of which are lost, but from various sources, almost all detached, 
 ihough, it is hoped and believed, trustworthy. 
 
AN ACCOUNT 
 
 STEIKE or THE ELINT GLASS MAKEES 
 
 ■!f 1858-59. 
 
 PREPARED POR 
 
 STfje Wattonal a[s»Dtiati0n for tfje ^romntion of Sorial Srienct, 
 at the bequest of the committee on trades' societies. 
 
 By GODFEEY LUSHINGTON, 
 
 barrister- at-law. 
 
 [The materials for this account, except the documents quoted, have been furnished 
 exclusively from the side of the operatives : and consist mainly in placards and 
 notices issued during the struggle. On application to the Chairman of the Asso- 
 ciation of Master Glass Manufacturers for information, it was courteously declined, 
 on the (perfectly tenable) ground, that at the close of hostilities it seemed inexpe- 
 dient to revive the particulars of the contest.] 
 
 The United Flint Glass Makers' Society was established in 1844 : 
 since that time, according to their own representations, their aggregate 
 expenditure — in the support of unemployed men, in payment to super- 
 annuated members, and in expenses incurred for the removal of men 
 and their families to distant situations — has amounted to £20,000 and 
 upwards, of which £2000 were spent in the two years of the Crimean 
 war, although there was no strike, owing to the fluctuation of the trade, 
 and £3000 in 1858, the year of the Indian mutiny. In the course of 
 these fifteen years, the Union, on the occasion of the different strikes, 
 assisted the Wolverhampton tin-plate workers, the Kidderminster car- 
 pet workers, the Preston and Wigan lock-outs, the silk-skein dyers of 
 Manchester, the shipwrights and joiners in their law case ; paid its 
 share of the expenses incurred by the National Trades' Association 
 in their endeavours to pass the several arbitration bills brought before 
 the House of Commons ; and also took part in various local disputes. 
 
 In June, 1858, the rules and regulations of the Flint Glass Makers' 
 Friendly Society were revised at a conference held in London. 
 
 The minimum rate of wages was fixed by rule 63, for servitors 
 24s. per week and 2s. per move; for footmakers 18«. per week and 
 Is. 6d. per move ; for journeymen footmakers, 145. 
 
 As to apprentices, rule 45 prescribed — 
 
 " That no more that one apprentice should be allowed to three chairs, two to 
 five, and so on in proportion, and every one put on should be bound an appren- 
 tice. Also, that no journeyman footmaker might be discharged to make room 
 for an apprentice." 
 
 It was with respect to these two rules that the disputes leading to 
 the strike arose. 
 
106 An Account of the 
 
 The strike began in the Stourbridge district, but afterwards became 
 general. 
 
 Early in October, 1858, the manager of a factory proposed that 
 one of the apprentices (or rather one of the yearly-bound lads) should 
 be taken on as a journeyman footblower at something less than 14s. 
 per week. The men objected, and on the refusal of the employer to 
 raise the wages to this sum, the men, in accordance with the decision 
 of the district, on October 12th, gave fourteen days' notice to leave. 
 The employer in his turn gave the men another notice, dated October 
 16th, and they all left on the 23rd October. 
 
 The other dispute arose at another factory in the neighbourhood. 
 At that factory there were, early in November, four apprentices to 
 nine chairs, i.e. one apprentice beyond the number prescribed by rule 
 45 of the Union. The proprietors proposed to take on another, a 
 fifth, apprentice ; and when the men and district refused to agree to 
 this, gave notice to all the men " that they would not fill any more 
 metal, unless the men consented for the lad to be put on." This 
 notice expired on October 23rd. 
 
 Thus the men in two factories, amounting to about fifty, were out. 
 But it was impossible that the war should be localized within these 
 limits for any length of time. The two parties could not be left to 
 fight it out till one should capitulate to the other, or until either the 
 particular masters should get new men, or the men new masters. 
 The cause of this lay in the existence of the Union ; for by its laws 
 the Union was bound not only to supply the men out on strike, ac- 
 cording to their position, with 15s. or 10s. per week, but also to pre- 
 vent any of its members taking employment under the masters whose 
 men were on strike. In other words, by the Union all the operatives 
 were permanently combined into an ofifensive and defensive alliance. 
 It was otherwise with the masters : they were not formally com- 
 bined at all. The brother masters of the two masters whose men 
 were on strike were under no obligation either to contribute to their 
 support or even not to receive their discharged workmen. Thus these 
 two firms, unless they were ready to contend single-handed against 
 the whole Union, found it necessary by some direct step to procure 
 external aid. Accordingly they issued the two following circulars. 
 
 " Glass Works, 
 
 " October 16, 1858._ 
 " In consequence of our refusal to submit to the dictation of the glass makers in 
 our employ, the imdermentioned ha^ve signified their intention of not recom- 
 mencing work until we comply with their demands ; we shall feel obliged by 
 your not employing them, as it is the interest of the trade generally to support 
 us in resisting such tyrannical proceedings. 
 
 " We are, 
 
 " Yours respectfully 
 
 "X.y. 
 
 " WORKMEN. SEEVITORS. FOOT MAKERS. 
 
 " A. B. &c. C. D. &c. E. F. &c." 
 
 •' Glass Works, 
 
 " Stourbridge, October 16, 1858. 
 "The following men, having formed a combination to stop our glass works and 
 
Strike of the Flint Glass Makers in 1858-59. 107 
 
 dictate their own rules, have all been dieoharged by us, and we shall be obliged 
 by your not employing them, and feel sure that it is the interest of the glass 
 trade to support us. Our glass cutters are all men unconnected with the Union, 
 and we mean to adopt the same course with the glass makers. 
 
 " Z. and Co. 
 
 "WORKMEN. SERVITORS. rOOTBLOWBES. 
 
 " A. B. &c. C. D. &c. E. F. &c." 
 
 The circulars apparently produced the desired effect : not only 
 were the discharged men not taken on at other factories, but early in 
 November, when the two firms, — from their glassblowers being away 
 on strike, — began to run short of plain goods for theii' glass cutters to 
 work up, various other masters came forward to supply them with 
 these goods for this purpose at cost price, or at all events at less than 
 the market price. 
 
 This assistance, it seems to me, was necessary for the two firms to 
 ask, and reasonable for their brother masters to give : it was simply 
 a temporary adoption by the masters for their mutual protection of 
 the same principles of combination as those which the men enforced 
 for their protection in the permanent organization of their Union. 
 Nevertheless, it gave great offence to the men: they called it " unjus- 
 tifiable interference;" and on November 15th the Stourbridge District 
 Committee issued a circular containing the following passage : — 
 
 " Before bringing the whole district out in a general strike, we propose that 
 two of the most vulnerable and unreasonable aggressors in this district shall be 
 served with fourteen days' notice from each of their men first, and it is also pro- 
 posed that every other factory then working shall be limited to six turns per week, 
 and if that answers the effect — very good ; but if the remaining masters still 
 maintain their hostility to us, and determine to make the others work, we then 
 propose to take two or three more, until the whole district are out on strike, 
 which we have not the slightest doubt will answer the effect in a very short time." 
 
 The circular closed with the formal proposition by the Stourbridge 
 District — 
 
 " That the Central Committee and the Stourbridge District shall be allowed 
 to take what measures they shall think best and most expedient in the present 
 struggle, and that, should it be necessary, they shall be allowed to draw out two or 
 more factories, or the whole of the district, on strike, and shall receive the allow- 
 ance stated in rule 19." 
 
 On the following day, November 16, the Central Committee ratified 
 the proposition. 
 
 The glass manufacturers now thought it time to organize their 
 forces. 
 
 On the same day, November 16, they issued a circular, which con- 
 tained the result of sundry previous meetings held with a view to 
 the formation of an association of the glass masters in the districts of 
 Birmingham, Stourbridge and Dudley. The circular was moderate 
 in its tone, and set forth the rules of the new association as follows. 
 
 RULES. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 That the Association be called the Midland Association of Flint Glass Manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 OBJECT. 
 
 The intent and object of the Association is the defence of the members against 
 
108 Aji Account of the 
 
 any unjust interference (more especially in the form of strikes) on the part of the 
 men employed, either of their own movement, or in concert or combination with 
 others, for the purpose of coercing their employers. 
 
 FUNDS. 
 
 Each member of the Association shall subscribe £100, to be called the " De- 
 fence Fund," and also a further sum of £10 as an annual subscription, payable 
 quarterly in advance. 
 
 orriOERS. 
 The of^cers of the Association shall consist of a chairman, a paid secretary, 
 treasurer, and a committee of five members, to be elected annually ; and no 
 member of the committee going out of ofSce shall be re-eligible till after the 
 expiration of another year. The chairman to be ex-offieio a member of the 
 committee. 
 
 MEETINGS. 
 
 The committee shall meet monthly, or so often as occasion may require : and 
 a general meeting of the Association shall be held quarterly. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Each member of the Association shall immediately communicate any serious 
 misunderstanding between himself and his workmen to the secretary, who shall, 
 after fully investigating the samg, call the committee together to consider what 
 proceedings shall be taken, before referring to a general meeting. 
 
 SUPPOKT or MEMBERS WHEN WORKS ARE STANDING THROUGH A STRIKE. 
 
 In the event of a strike on the part of the men in the employment of any 
 member of the Association, the other members undertake to supply him with 
 plain goods, if required, and at such prices as shall be settled by the committee : 
 and also an amount of compensation during the strike, as shall be determined at 
 a general meeting, shall be allowed. 
 
 EMPLOYMENT OF FRESH HANDS. 
 
 No member of this Association shall take into his employ a new hand in any 
 capacity, as a glassblower, without a written character from his last employer ; 
 nor shall he treat with one, unless the man offering shall have previously given 
 to his then employer a fortnight's notice of his intention to leave. And in making 
 an engagement with a new hand, it should be stipulated in writing that a fort- 
 night's notice shall be given on either side, either of leaving or dismissal, except- 
 ing in case of dismissal from gross misconduct. 
 
 GENERAL EMPLOYMENT OF LABOUR. 
 
 All employment of labour shall be thoroughly at the option of each individual 
 member of the Association. 
 
 PRIVILEGES RESTRICTED TO MEMBERS. 
 
 All privileges to be derived from the Association shall be exclusively confined 
 to its members. 
 
 FORFEITURE OP PRIVILEGES. 
 
 Any member of the Association who shall fail to comply with the rules, shall 
 forfeit all claim to support from the Association : and the whole amount of his 
 subscription, whether annual or in the defence fund, shall be entirely at the 
 disposal of the Association, and subject to the decision of a general meeting spe- 
 cially convened. 
 
 COMMUNICATION WITH OTHER DISTRICTS. 
 
 Frequent and free communication shall be encouraged between this and other 
 associations formed upon the same principles, and having the same objects, so as 
 to invite and obtain mutual co-operation. 
 
 George Lloyd, Chairman. 
 William Walker, Treasurer. 
 George Jos. Green, Secretary. 
 Ifovember Wt , 1858. 
 
 Accompanying this circular was a paper headed "TheEeal Cause of 
 
Strike of the Flint Glass Makers in 1858-59. 109 
 
 the Strike, or Extracts from the Rules and Regulations of the Flint 
 Glass Makers' Society." The paper is given at full length infra, 
 p. 110. 
 
 The next step appears to have been taken by the men, at a general 
 meeting of the Glassmakers' Union, held at the Town Hall, Stour- 
 bridge, on December 4th, at which were present delegates from Bir- 
 mingham, Manchester, Dudley, and York, and, amongst other resolu- 
 tions, one was proposed and carried as follows : — 
 
 " No factory in the Stourbridge, Dudley or Birmingham Districts shall be al- 
 lowed to make more than six turns per week, where there is any real or suspicious 
 evidence that they are making, or imless they promise us not to make, the work of 
 other masters, whose men are out on strike ; and if this does not answer the de- 
 sired effect, the four other places in the Stourbridge District shall give in their 
 fourteen days' notice to leave." 
 
 The struggle now was general between the men's Union on one side 
 and the masters' Association on the other. The latter at once took 
 most active and hostile steps, and by common agreement was bent 
 upon nothing short of the extinction of the Union. Delenda est Car- 
 thago. By common agreement, all masters who lived in the Midland 
 Counties locked out their operatives, and not content with this, they 
 sent deputations to Yorkshire, Northumberland, Lancashire, Scotland, 
 to induce the employers there to lock their factories up. The result 
 was, that on the 1st January, 1859, in the Stourbridge, Birmingham, 
 and Dudley Districts, the masters had locked out the men, in number 
 exceeding 500, from seventeen factories, and only seven factories 
 were left working in the two first mentioned districts. 
 
 In March there were out about 1,100 workmen, including glass 
 cutters, in Stourbridge, Dudley, Birmingham, Manchester, York, 
 Glasgow, London, Newcastle, St. Helens, Warrington, Edinburgh, 
 Wordsley, and Belfast. 
 
 The condition of re-employment held out by the Midland Associa- 
 tion was the following declaration to be presented for signature by the 
 operatives. 
 
 " In re-entering your employment, we agree to give up the Glass Makers' 
 Society, as now constituted ; we declare we will not interfere with your manage- 
 ment or right to employ labour as may be required by you in your works, nor 
 contribute funds to any society that shall have this effect, so long as we remain 
 in your employment." 
 
 On the other hand, the men showed great determination in defence 
 of their Union. Already at the general meeting held at Stourbridge on 
 December 4th, 1858, they had resolved to leave untouched the £1000, 
 part of their capital, lying in the Bank at Birmingham, and to double 
 their usual contribution, i.e. to raise it from \s. to 2s. per weelv from 
 every workman or servitor. But at the end of December they found 
 it necessary to raise the contribution as high as 5s. per week. This 
 resolution was passed at a conference of the United Flint Glass Makers' 
 Society, held on December 31, 1858, and January 1, 1859, at Birming- 
 ham, at which were present delegates from Stourbridge, Birmingham, 
 Dublin, Dudley, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Longport, Manchester, 
 Newcastle, St. Helen's, Warrington, York, and Rotherham. The Con- 
 
110 
 
 An Account of the 
 
 ference also approved of a project for forming amongst the men a 
 Joint Stock Company (Limited) for the manufacture of flint glass. 
 This project had been proposed about the end of December, and efforts 
 were made to raise a capital of £5000 by 500 shares of £10 each. 
 Nothing ho'n'ever seems to have come of it. 
 
 But the Conference, while thus prepared to defend their Union 
 against the masters, and even, if possible, to do without masters alto- 
 gether, were at the same time ready to adopt conciliatory measures. 
 They resolved to appoint a Committee " to modify, concentrate, and 
 revise the rules objected to, and take out the obnoxious language, 
 without forfeiting the spirit or compromising the honour of the 
 Society, and a deputation to meet the masters on January 9, 1859." 
 
 What these modifications were will best appear by examining toge- 
 ther the rules before and after the change : — 
 
 EXTKACTS FROM RuLES AKD REGULA- 
 TIONS OF THE Flint Glass Makebs' 
 Friendly Society, revised at a Con- 
 ference held in London, June 15- 
 19, 1858. {Circulated by the Masters 
 as " T!w Real Cause of the Strike.") 
 
 Part of Rule 2. — That apprentices Ibe 
 allowed to join the Society when they 
 have two years of their time to serve. 
 
 Part of Rule 5. — The central secretary 
 shall likewise keep a roll or list of the 
 unemployed, with their respective abi- 
 lities and the situations they are capa- 
 ble of filling, and when applied to by 
 any of the district secretaries for a man 
 or men, he shall send the man or men 
 that have been longest on Ms list capa- 
 ble of filling the situations they are 
 required for. 
 
 Part of Rule 6. — When a man or men 
 are wanted in any district, the factory 
 secretary shall apply to the district secre- 
 tary, and should there be no one suit- 
 able in the district, he shall immediately 
 write to the central secretary, stating 
 clearly the station the man required 
 is to fill, also the abilities required 
 of the man, and the wages he shall 
 receive, so that there be no mistake in 
 the man sent for to fill the situation. 
 
 Rule 9. — A list or roll of the unem- 
 ployed of each district shall be kept by 
 the district secretary, who shall supply 
 the man required in his own district, 
 the longest on the roll having the first 
 claim ; should there be none on the 
 district roll, or none qualified to fill the 
 situation, the district secretary shall 
 write to the central secretary, who shall 
 supply the men required. 
 
 Rule 32. — Any member applying to 
 any employer or manager without get- 
 ting the consent of the district secretary, 
 
 Rules as modified at the Confee- 
 
 ENCE HELD AT BIRMINGHAM, ON Bb- 
 
 cember 31, 1858, and January 1, 
 1860. 
 
 Rule 2. — To stand with note added 
 — that the rule is entirely permissive, 
 and not compulsoi-y upon apprentices. 
 
 Rules 5, 6, and 9. — The central se- 
 cretary shall keep a list of the unem- 
 ployed, so that when application is made 
 for a man or men he may be able to 
 supply them ; all applications to be 
 made through the district secretary, 
 but any employer may have any mem- 
 ber he prefers by letting the secretary 
 know whom he particularly desires to 
 have ; but all privileges to be derived 
 from this Society shall be exclusively 
 confined to its members. 
 
 Rule 32. — No member of this Society 
 shall take a situation to the detriment 
 of the interest of the Society, or he shall 
 
Strike of the Flint Glass Makers in 1858-59. 
 
 Ill 
 
 and of the men in the factory where the 
 man ia wanted, shall be fined £,1, and 
 not allowed to work if he gets the situ- 
 ation ; any man writing for or giving 
 information to another, or applying to 
 either manager or employer, without 
 getting the consent of the district secre- 
 tary and of the men in the factory 
 where the application is for, shall he 
 fined £1, and suspended from all bene- 
 fit till such fine be paid. Any servitor 
 or footmaker applying to be put on 
 without the consent of the men in the 
 factory where he works and of the dis- 
 trict, shall be fined £1, and not allowed 
 to work if he gets the situation. Dis- 
 tricts to have power to increase these 
 fines, but not to exceed £5. Any mem- 
 ber not being satisfied with the decision 
 shall have power of appealing to the 
 central committee, whose decision shall 
 be binding. 
 
 Kule 45. — That no more than one 
 apprentice be allowed to three chairs, 
 two to five, and so on in proportion, 
 and every one put on shall be bound an 
 apprentice. 
 
 Note. — No journeyman footmaker 
 mnst be discharged to make room for 
 an apprentice. 
 
 Rule 46. — That all members of the 
 factory shall be consulted, and their 
 consent given, before taking on a young 
 footmaker ; any member infringing this 
 rule shall be fined £1, and not allowed 
 to have the apprentice. Any boy be- 
 ing a taker-in shall not be bound an 
 apprentice. 
 
 Rule 47. — That no premium shall be 
 received by any member of this Society 
 for taking on an a^rentioe, under any 
 consideration whatever, or the whole of 
 such money shall be forfeited to the 
 district local fund, but that one move 
 per week be allowed to the chair for 
 twelve months. 
 
 Rule 49. — Any district shall have 
 power to make such bye-laws as they 
 may think proper, so that they do not 
 infringe on the general laws of this 
 Society. 
 
 Rule 62,— That in future no fifth 
 hand be allowed to the blowing chairs. 
 Any one violating this rule shall be 
 fined not less than £1, nor more than 
 £5, and not allowed to keep the fifth 
 hand, and be suspended from all benefit 
 till he pays the fine. 
 
 forfeit all claims to benefit from this 
 Society. 
 
 Rule 45. — ^That no more than one ap- 
 prentice be allowed to three chairs, two 
 to five, and so on in proportion, but if 
 no journeyman can be obtained, two 
 apprentices shall be allowed to four 
 chairs. 
 
 Note. — Any member infringing this 
 rule shall be fined £1, and that all 
 allowances for young footmakers be 
 regulated by the employer and the men 
 in the district. 
 
 Rules 46, 47, and 62, struck out. 
 
112 An Account of the 
 
 Eule 63. That no servitor be put Rule 63.— That the old standard rule 
 
 on to work under 24s. per week and 2s. of wages in the trade be adopted ; i.e. 
 per move, and no footmaker be put to that the lowest wages of journeymen be, 
 serve under ISs. per week and Is. Qd. for workmen 22s. per week, for servi- 
 per move. tors 16s. 6d. per week, and for foot- 
 
 makers 12s. per week. 
 
 A copy of the rules tlius modified was sent to every employer in 
 the country, but at first met with no response : the lock-out was as 
 strict as ever, except under the condition of the men renouncing the 
 Union. But in the course of a few weeks the masters found, on the 
 one hand, the pressure on themselves increasing, since not only their 
 glassblowers on strike, but their glass cutters also, who depended upon 
 the glassblowers for a supply of work, were out of employ, and, on 
 the other, the Union as determined as at first : they therefore began 
 to think of terms, and accordingly, at a meeting held on March 3rd, 
 1859, adopted, as the basis upon which they would receive back their 
 workmen, the following resolution : 
 
 "It having been reported that several of the men in the different manufactories 
 desire to adopt a certain code of rules dated January 29, 1859, and drawn up by 
 , resolved — 
 
 " That this meeting sees no objection to their adoption by the men with such a 
 modification of rules 4 and 5 and the abrogation of rule 20 as may leave the 
 employment of labour free to the employer : and these rules being so modified 
 by the Glass Makers' Society, and the same duly notified to the chairman of the 
 Associations, that the works be re-opened on the 14th inst. 
 
 "Resolved, that on and after the 21st inst., each manufacturer shall be indi- 
 vidually at liberty to treat with his own men on the basis of the above resolution." 
 
 Based upon the foregoing resolutions, the following declaration was 
 drawn up for each master to submit to the men returning to work. 
 
 "I, A. B., engage to enter the employment of Messrs. C. D. and Co. upon the 
 full and faithful understanding that from henceforth I will not attempt, by my- 
 self or through others, to interfere with your freedom in the. management of your 
 works, more especially in reference to the engagement of men, or the number of 
 apprentices whom you choose to employ. Declared in the presence of E. F., 
 witness, as accepted by C. D." 
 
 The men refused to entertain any bond or declaration, but were 
 ready to re-consider their own rules, and, accordingly,^at a meeting of 
 delegates, representing the Glass Makers' Society, from Stourbridge, 
 Birmingham, Manchester, Warrington and other places, held on March 
 11th at the Woodman Inn, Deritend, Birmingham, the following 
 resolutions were adopted. 
 
 1. — That the rules drawn up by Mr. and accepted by the trade 
 
 be now confirmed with the following explanation. Rules 4 and 5 are not 
 intended to compel a master to employ or retain any man who is incompetent to 
 fill the situation required ; and any master may have any member be prefers 
 by telling the secretary or any of his men whom he desires to have. 
 
 2. — That rule 20 be altered only as to the allowances given for the young foot- 
 makers — such allowances to be decided by the masters and men in each district. 
 
 3. — That as Mr. 's men, of Birmingham, Messrs. 's and 's, and 
 
 Messrs. 's men, of Warrington, have commenced work upon these conditions, 
 
 all negotiations for resuming work be on the same basis only. 
 
 These terms were found, under the circumstances, to be satisfactory 
 
Strike of the Flint Glass Makers in 1858-59. 
 
 113 
 
 to the masters, and eventually, at a conference held at Dudley, April 4, 
 1859, between the Midland Association of Glass Manufacturers and 
 a deputation of the Glass Makers' Friendly Society, the code of laws 
 as revised by the Glass Makers' Society was agreed to by both parties, 
 subject to the following modifications : — 
 
 "The note to rules 4 and 5 to read as follows :— These rules are not intended 
 to compel a master to engage any man to whom he objects, or who is incompetent 
 to fill the situation required, and any master may have any member he prefers 
 by letting the Secretary or any of his men know whom he desires to have." 
 
 An assurance was given by the employers present that no objection 
 would be made in receiving again the men lately in their employ, on 
 any grounds, in reference to the part the members of the Committee 
 or any other officers of the Society may have taken in the disputes 
 which were then declared'to have terminated. 
 
 It was distinctly stated, that " if masters engaged a non-society man 
 the society men should object to work with him, and that our Society 
 will support men for so doing." 
 
 The men then returned to their work. 
 
 The' cost of this strike has now to be estimated, and the means of 
 defraying it explained. Under the rules of the Union, the allowance 
 during non-employment on account of strike or otherwise, was 
 
 To workmen or servitors 
 To footmakers 
 
 15s. per week. 
 105. do.; 
 
 and throughout the whole of this struggle — and for some weeks 
 there were 1,100 out on strike — the Union did not condescend to 
 lower this allowance ; but after the 8th of January, 1859, the pay- 
 ments were made two-thirds in cash and one-third in paper, in the 
 shape of a promissory note, given in the name of the Society, payable 
 with 5 per cent, per annum as soon as practicable after the strike 
 should be over. Many of these promissory notes were privately dis- 
 counted by those amongst the operatives who were better to do than 
 their neighbours. At the close of the struggle in April, 1859, there 
 were out about £2000 of these promissory notes. 
 
 To meet this total expenditure, the Union had in hand £500 in the 
 Glasgow Bank, and £1000 at Birmingham ; this latter sum they left 
 untouched as long as they could, but the weekly contributions were 
 doubled, and finally quintupled, as appears from the following 
 table : — 
 
 TTguoI levies per week. 
 
 By Resolution, 
 Dec. 4tll, 1858. 
 
 After Jan. 8th, 1869, tiU 
 
 one month after April 
 16th, 1869, or after re- 
 sumption of work. 
 
 For a period of six months 
 
 after the lapse of one 
 
 month after close of strike 
 
 or resumption of work. 
 
 i-. d. 
 
 Workman or 
 
 Servitor ... 1 
 Footmaker ... 8 
 Apprentice... 4 
 
 ^. d 
 
 2 
 1 4 
 8 
 
 s. d. 
 
 5 
 3 4 
 1 8 
 
 s. d. 
 
 2 
 1 4 
 8 
 
114 Account of the Strike of the Flint Glass Makers. 
 
 Summary. 
 
 1. The cause of the strike was the disregard by two firms of the 
 regulations of the Union imposing a minimum wage and restricting 
 the number of apprentices. 
 
 2. The strike by a natural sequence propagated itself over the 
 whole district, the Union striking in detail against those firms who 
 supplied material to the other firms where the men were already on 
 strike. 
 
 3. This series of strikes led to the formation of a Masters' Asso- 
 ciation, and to a general lock-out of the operatives throughout the 
 United Kingdom, with the avowed object of extinguishing the Union. 
 
 4. The dispute, after a duration of several months, terminated by a 
 compromise offered by the operatives and accepted by the masters : 
 the basis of the compromise being that the men should withdraw, or 
 qualify, the rules which were practically obnoxious, without aban- 
 doning the principle on which those rules were framed. 
 
 5. The Union survived the general lock-out conducted by an 
 organized Association of Masters. 
 
REPORT 
 
 ON 
 
 TEADES' SOCIETIES' RULES. 
 
 PKEPAEED FOE 
 
 iTljc Watiottttl Association for tfjt promotion of Social Science, 
 
 AT THE REQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE ON TEADEs' SOCIETIES. 
 
 Bt G. SHAW LEFEVRE. 
 
 The printed rules and regulations of fifty-nine trades' societies and 
 unions have been procured by us, and though these form but a small 
 portion of the whole number existing in the country, they are suffi- 
 ciently numerous to enable us to form a judgment as to the general 
 scope and bearing of such societies. 
 
 It has been found that the societies range themselves under two 
 heads — viz. those which are formed for trade purposes only, and those 
 which combine with the general objects of a trade society those of a 
 benefit and friendly club. There are some societies where these two 
 objects are kept distinct, and their rules separate: — it has been found 
 most convenient to range these under the former head. 
 
 Tables have been drawn up under these two heads, giving such 
 information as to the contributions, allowances, and objects of the 
 societies as can be given in a tabulated form. 
 
 Of the (forty) societies which are formed mainly for trade purposes, 
 it will be found the allowances given to those on strike or out of work 
 by order of the union, vary from 7s. a week to 12*., and in one case 
 (the Ship Joiners of Liverpool) as high as 36*. 
 
 Of the (nineteen) societies which combine benefit purposes with 
 those of trade regulations, the entrance money varies from 2s. 6d. 
 to £1 Is., while the weekly contribution varies from 2d. to Is. The 
 allowances for sickness and want of work vary from 5s. to 10s., and 
 on strike from 10s. to 15s. a week. Funeral allowances from £3 to 
 £12, with allowances in some cases for accidents and superannuation, 
 and for other special purposes. 
 
 The greater number of these trade and benefit societies are of a 
 purely local nature, and confined to the members of particular trades 
 within a limited district; the most important exceptions to this being 
 in the cases of the Stone Masons, the Bricklayers, Carpenters and 
 Joiners, the Plasterers, the Smiths, the Coachmakers, the Amalgamated 
 Engineers, the Coopers, the Typographers, Steam Engine Makers, 
 Iron Founders, and the Seamen's Protection Society ; these consti- 
 
 I 2 
 
116 Report oil 
 
 tute tlie wealthiest and most widely spread societies whose rules we 
 have before us. They have their branches or lodges spread over 
 the country, and subject to the rules of the general society, settled by 
 a delegate meeting, and with a central authority which directs and 
 controls the general business of the society, either directly or 
 through various local branches. 
 
 It will be well to give a short account of the objects, as expressed 
 in their rules, and the organization of some of these principal 
 societies, as an example, and then proceed to point out any striking 
 difference in others. 
 
 The Operative Masons' Society has 213 branches in England and 
 Wales. Its objects, as expressed in its preface, are as follows. " It 
 is the great principle of this Society to bring into practice among its 
 members the truly valuable object of a self-protecting power against 
 the selfish and unprincipled proceedings of the capitalist ; and 
 although objections are sometimes raised against ' trade societies,' 
 and charges made that they are monoplies, and unjust restrictions, 
 yet those who experience the great henefits they confer can fully 
 appreciate their general usefulness. Every artisan following a 
 given occupation has an interest, in common with all those similarly 
 engaged, in forming rules by which that particular trade should be 
 regulated; and the constitution thus set up is available for the assist- 
 ance of the unemployed, the support of the sick and disabled mem- 
 bers," &c. "Its objects are to mutually support each other while in 
 search of employment, and also in case of sickness or accidents, and 
 for the interment of deceased members ; as also to regulate the price 
 and lessen the hours of labour." 
 
 The Society is governed by a central committee, of chairman, 
 vice-chairman, and nine members, elected by the central lodge 
 for six months ; the central lodge is chosen by vote of all the 
 lodges, and not to remain more than three years in one town ; each 
 lodge has power to make its own bye-laws, but not in opposition 
 to the general laws ; all lodges are to transmit to the central com- 
 mittee all monies not immediately required for the disbursements of 
 their local expenditure. 
 
 The power of the central committee appears to be administrative 
 only, separate lodges having power to decide by vote- upon any 
 question immediately affecting them, with a power of investigation 
 to the central committee, by sending delegates to inquire into its 
 nature. 
 
 The Society is confined to those who are members of the trade, 
 after a legal apprenticeship of five years, and no boys are to be bound 
 as apprentices after sixteen years of age, except they are sons of 
 masons, when eighteen is the limit of age. 
 
 Among the rules we find the following, 
 
 " Working overtime tending to our general injury, by keeping 
 members out of employment, shall be abolished, excepting in the case 
 of accident or necessity, but no strike to take place for the abolition 
 thereof without a special grant. Where members persist in working 
 
Trades' Societies^ Rules. 117 
 
 overtime in opposition to the lodge of which they are members, they 
 shall be fined at the discretion of the lodge. A lessening of the 
 hours of labour would prove a great remedy for the wrongs we suffer, 
 and may each member speedily perceive how deeply he is interested 
 in its attainment. It is also requested that lodges harassed by piece- 
 work or sub-contracting do apply at a reasonable time for a grant to 
 abolish it. Where sub-contracting or piecework are abolished, such 
 is binding with the Society." 
 
 " That an annual revised black list be printed, showing the names 
 of those who have worked in opposition on strikes or otherwise, also 
 the names of those who have defrauded the Society." 
 
 " When a strike for an advance of wages is contemplated by any 
 lodge, the secretary is to report the same to the central committee, 
 showing the number that would be out, the number of payable mem- 
 bers, the state of trade, and the position of the Society in the neigh- 
 bourhood, also the number of members belonging to such lodge that 
 voted for and against the application being made. The secretary to 
 summon each member of the lodge who may reside within three miles 
 of the lodge-house to discuss the application — ^votes to be taken by 
 ballot, majority to be binding — no proxies allowed." 
 
 " If any employer attempt to reduce the current rate of wages at 
 any period of the year, or attempt to introduce piecework where it 
 has been abolished, or to increase the hours of labour, or infringe 
 upon the established meal hours, or introducing individuals not of 
 the trade, or on the refusal of paying or non-members to contribute 
 to the Society, members may resist such infringements without a 
 grant, if acceded to by a majority of the members of the lodge ; but 
 in all cases to wait on employers previous to striking." 
 
 The Society of Bricklayers is of a somewhat similar nature, but 
 its rules are not so strict, and they are wholly confined to trade 
 purposes. 
 
 The Society of House Carpenters and Joiners, another of the- 
 Building Trades, is also widely spread through the country, and has 
 its seat of government at Nottingham ; it is purely a trade society,. 
 and its rules are mostly confined to directions for the general 
 government of the Society, leaving the details to the separate 
 lodges. No strike is a legal one without the consent of a majority 
 of the lodges, to all of whom information of any movement must be 
 sent, and notice of any new privilege cannot be given to the em- 
 ployers until the sanction of the lodges has been obtained. And 
 further, no lodge is allowed to strike for any new privileges at a 
 time when the members already on strike exceed one for every fifty- 
 throughout the Society ; but should any employer think proper to 
 make a reduction of wages, members so dealt with may appeal to 
 their respective lodges, who may act as the circumstances of the case 
 may direct. No lodge is allowed to strike for an advance of wages 
 until they have been twelve months sharing the general expenses of 
 the Society, and no lodge is allowed to vote on its own question 
 if for a new privilege. 
 
118 Report on 
 
 The Coachmakers is another Society extending throughout the 
 country, with 1 20 branches, and 3,650 members. A member must have 
 served seven years as apprentice in a coaclimaker's shop, and is ad- 
 mitted Ijy a majority on a ballot. One of the rules is to this effect, 
 " That our employers be requested not to take more than one appren- 
 tice to each branch, unless they employ more than three men at such 
 branch, and then only at the average of one apprentice to three men 
 employed (sons of coachmakers excepted). When an apprentice 
 is in his last year, another may be taken to succeed him. Should any 
 attempt be made to violate this rule, a deputation of two or more 
 members of the town in which the grievance exists shall wait on 
 the employer ; and should they fail to come to an amicable arrange- 
 ment, the secretary shall represent the case fully to the executive 
 committee, who shall deal with it according to the rules." 
 
 The general business of the Society is directed by an executive 
 committee of seven members, resident in the central town, elected at 
 a general meeting, and to receive £1 each per quarter, to meet twice 
 a week, and with power to refer any important question to the general 
 vote of the Society. 
 
 On the subject of strikes there are the following rules. " No shop 
 or town shall be allowed to turn out on their own responsibility, but 
 in the event of any oppression or dispute, the secretary of such town, 
 in conjunction with the members, shall furnish the executive com- 
 mittee with all the particulars of such grievance, who shall deter- 
 mine whether it be expedient to summon delegates, and if found 
 necessary to do so, the executive committee shall send one delegate, 
 and the town secretary where the grievance takes place shall sum- 
 mon one delegate from each of the two nearest relieving towns ; 
 should the delegates fail to settle the matter amicably, they shall 
 represent the case to the executive committee, who shall determine 
 whether it be necessary to call the men out or not ; and if two griev- 
 ances at once, the executive committee shall decide which shall 
 have the preference, and when it is practicable, only one strike be 
 allowed to take place at one time." 
 
 " Any member leaving a situation rather than submit to a reduction 
 of wages, or losing his situation through a black going to work in the 
 shop under wages, shall be entitled to immediate support out of the 
 funds of the Society." 
 
 " That this Society discountenance piecework altogether, and call 
 on the members to abolish it, where it is practicable to do so. That 
 no overtime be allowed in any shop where there are more than three 
 men in a branch, if there be a man of the same branch out of work 
 in the town." 
 
 "In the event of a turn-out taking place, a levy shall be laid by the 
 executive upon every member of the Society, in proportion to the 
 wages of each man, and the men on strike shall be paid three-fourths 
 their regular wages. When the funds exceed £1,500, the surplus 
 shall be applied to strike purposes." 
 
 " Reports to be published of the blacks.'' 
 
Trades' Societies' Rules. 119 
 
 The Society of Amalgamated Engineers is of a similar character. 
 Its preface, in many respects the same as that of the " Masons," con- 
 tains the following passage : " Our object is not to do anything either 
 indiscreet or illegal ; but if constrained to make restrictions against 
 the admission into our trade of those who have not earned a right by 
 a probationary servitude, we do so knowing that such encroachments 
 are productive of evil, and, when persevered in unchecked, result in 
 reducing the condition of the artisan to that of the unskilled laboui'er, 
 and confer no permanent advantage on those admitted. It is our 
 duty then, to exercise the same care and watchfulness over that in 
 which we have a vested interest as the physician does who holds a 
 diploma, and the author who is protected by a copyright." " By 
 association we acquire the discipline which allows us to act together, 
 and the patience which enables us to wait for results." " We may 
 hope then to leave to a future generation not only a trade, but the 
 means of conserving its best interests, until some more general prin- 
 ciples of co-operation shall be acknowledged in society, guaranteeing 
 to every member the full enjoyment of the produce of his labour." 
 
 The Society, which has branches throughout the United King- 
 dom, and is one of the wealthiest societies in existence, is governed 
 by an Executive Council of twenty -five members, elected from specified 
 branches, and there is an appeal to this council from decisions of the 
 branches, and a power given to it to take the opinion of the members of 
 the Society generally when a majority of votes is to decide. The rules 
 as to admission are very strict. The proposed member must have worked 
 five years at the trade, and must be possessed of good abilities as a work- 
 man, be of steady habits and good moral character. There are provi- 
 sions for calling a delegate meeting once a year to decide on matters con- 
 nected with the trade, and there are provisions for aiding emigration 
 of members when the funds of the Society are £3 per member and 
 when 71 per cent, of the members are out of employment. 
 But there are no special rules for strikes. 
 
 The Smiths' Society appears to us especially to be worthy of 
 notice. The preface to its rules states, that among the objects to 
 which its funds are to be applied is, " To advance the interests of the 
 operatives of the trade generally, both in a pecuniary and in a moral 
 sense of view, by every legal means within its reach, and to resist 
 aggression in whatever shape it may present itself as an antagonist 
 to its members or to the trade at large," — but further on it states, 
 "that the Society had an early origin (1827), and, like most of its 
 kind, became imbrued with and indulged more or less in the cate- 
 gory of strikes, which expensive item, in all probability, tended more 
 than anything else to repress and to reduce its funds and its members 
 to a very low ebb. In the year 1845 a delegate meeting assembled, 
 at which it was unanimously considered and determined, that strikes 
 of all kinds, however seemingly just in their nature, were in the 
 aggregate an unpremeditated evil on the part of the operatives, and 
 an unmitigated one to all concerned — in fact, an infliction upon society 
 at large — the immediate enactors being the proximate sufferers in 
 
120 Report on 
 
 all cases, the ultimatum of which was beyond calculation. At this 
 meeting it was most wisely determined, for the future, to avoid all 
 such contests, and in furtherance of the same, a law was enacted, and 
 thus this Society became incorporated, in point of fact, as the original 
 anti-strike society, a fact (although put forth, perhaps, a little 
 before its time, and which may in some respects have militated against 
 the society), yet a fact of which we have no cause to be ashamed ; 
 a fact which in the short space of eight years has nearly trebled the 
 number of our members, and has enabled us to meet every demand 
 honourably, which certainly was at one time rather doubtful, and 
 above all, has put us, in a pecuniary sense of the word, in such position 
 that perhaps no other society of the kind can boast of. So much for 
 anti-strike principles. Want of intelligence on the part of both man 
 and master induces and precipitates strikes. They are battles between 
 the employers and the employed which are too often unwisely got 
 up by one or both parties, and continued more for the purpose of 
 trying which shall gain the mastery over the other than otherwise, 
 at no trifling sacrifice both to themselves and to the public at large ; 
 when a small spice of intelligence would convince both that it is 
 impossible for the wages of labour or its concomitants to be per- 
 manently regulated by individual action. Disputes of this kind can 
 only be settled by friendly consultations between both master and 
 man, imbued with the spirit of mutually imparting facts, with a view 
 to render assistance to each other ; if this, in connexion with the 
 efforts of mutual and disinterested friends, cannot be accomplished, 
 we say then let men and masters part ; offer no opposition; the men, 
 however great or small their number, to be supplied with means of 
 existence until they obtain other situations of work from the funds 
 of the Society ; and the employers to obtain other men as best they 
 may ; and we contend that this unassuming quiet plan of operations, 
 is, according to its number of members, accomplishing, and will con- 
 tinue to accomplish, infinitely more real good to the trade, in all its 
 ramifications, at a minimum expense to its members, than any other 
 plan of operation by any other society, however much vaunted or 
 boasted of, and therefore deserves to be well supported by the ope- 
 ratives of the trade in general. 
 
 " The history of strikes in the aggregate confirms the opinion that 
 they are a serious evil to all concerned and to the public in general ; 
 the right to combine is one to which the artisan, operative as well 
 as employer, are fully entitled. Combinations are capable of pro- 
 ducing great advantage, and supply important deficiencies ; the labour 
 of the operative is his capital, and he is justified in disposing of it 
 to the greatest advantage, and protecting it from injury or deprecia- 
 tion ; but he is justified in no more ; he must stop there ; he has no 
 right to assail or interfere with others ; the moment this line is 
 transgressed by either master or man, that moment a complete 
 change is effected in the character and operation of the body ; from 
 a positive good it becomes a positive evil. 
 
 " This institution differs from others in another most important 
 
Trades' Societies' Rules. 121 
 
 point; its principles are to associate all the different branches of the 
 trade in one general and universal compact, objecting to none ; it 
 considers none inferior or ineligible who can earn their living at any 
 of the branches -^of the trade, and as such it breathes a truly liberal 
 spirit, and is not exclusive in principle, as all other branch societies 
 of the trade more or less are." 
 
 Among the rules are the follovsring : 
 
 " No member to be allowed to enter into any employment except 
 he receive the average wages of such employment. 
 
 " The board of directors have power to investigate any disagree- 
 ment case, and if they see fit, may throw members so situate upon 
 the regular trade fund resources, and thus put an end to the dis- 
 agreement. 
 
 " That this order deprecate and discountenance all strikes or turn- 
 outs of whatever nature." 
 
 Power is given to the board of directors, in conjunction with a 
 majority of the members of the order, to make an extra levy sufficient 
 to support members unemployed through disagreement with their 
 employers. 
 
 The Society of Steam Engine Makers is one of ancient foundation 
 and wide extension. It embraces the objects of a benefit club as 
 well as those of a trade club. It was instituted in 1824 for the 
 purpose of supporting and protecting such persons as had a legal 
 claim to the trade, its funds being for the first nine years devoted 
 entirely to trade purposes. Candidates for admission must have served 
 a legal apprenticeship of not less than five years, or have worked as 
 journeymen for five years. Branch meetings are held every month, 
 and the executive council meet quarterly ; the latter has power to 
 suspend or expel any member who may be acting contrary to the laws 
 and interests of the Society. There ai-e no special rules relating to 
 strikes. 
 
 The Flint Glass Makers' Society is also a national one; its rules 
 are brief and do not give much insight into its working ; in the last 
 report attached to the rules we find the following : — " It being an 
 acknowledged principle that the success of our Society depends upon 
 limiting as near as possible the supply of men to the demand for them, 
 we had our attention directed to what occurs in some districts, which 
 materially afiects this principle. We understand that in some districts 
 boys are put to blow foot, and are not bound apprentices, and when 
 they learn they leave their places and take the place- of journeymen- 
 footmakers ; thus making journeymen in two or three years when 
 others are compelled to serve three years ; we think that this evil 
 might very easily be put an end to, and therefore recommend to those 
 districts where it exists to see that the boys are bound when they are 
 put to blow foot. 
 
 " The most important idea entertained by the trade is co-operation; 
 or a plan to employ the otherwise unemployed members of our Society 
 in glass manufactories worked by our surplus funds ; this certainly 
 is a bold idea, and the idea alone is indicative of progress by its aim ; 
 
1 22 Report on 
 
 but we fear that yon are aiming at what has not had sufficient con- 
 sideration to be carried out with success ; we would, therefore, not 
 advise you to lose sight of the idea, but to wait until a practical plan 
 be laid before you, which may appear likely to carry it out with 
 success; for this we have offered a prize of two guineas for the best 
 practical plan for carrying out the principle of co-operation." 
 
 And among the minutes of a conference held at Glasgow in 1855: 
 
 " That the conference agree with the principle of co-operation ; but 
 owing to the present unsatisfactory state of the law of partnership, 
 think it would be dangerous to adopt this principle at present. 
 
 " That the executive be empowered to take measures for the pur- 
 pose of getting our rules certified; such of our rules as may be legally 
 objected to, to be published as general bye-laws, such bye-laws to 
 receive the signature of every member in the Society." 
 
 Among the rules to be noticed are the following : — 
 
 " Any member applying to an employer or manager without getting 
 the consent of the men, shall be fined one pound, and not be allowed 
 to work if he gets the situation. 
 
 "Any member losing his situation by drinking or neglect of duty 
 shall be suspended from unemployed allowances for six weeks for 
 the first offence, twelve weeks for the second offence, and for the 
 third oflTence he shall be expelled the Society." 
 
 Similar rules to these two are adopted by the Machine Printers' 
 Society, in addition to the following, which are worthy of notice : — 
 
 " No journeyman shall hire himself to his employer for a fixed 
 time without consulting his district. 
 
 " No apprentice shall be allowed to leave his situation on his own 
 account until he has served seven years, without consent of his district." 
 
 " One apprentice allowed to two journeymen in each shop, and should 
 any master put more, the journeymen in the shop shall acquaint the 
 secretary, who shall call a meeting of the neighbouring shops, at which 
 at least eleven journeymen shaU be present ; and if the majority deem 
 it advisable to oppose the master, the secretary shall inform the corres- 
 ponding secretary, who shall call a special delegate meeting of all the 
 districts ; the decision of which shall be law, and no turn-out shall 
 be lawful or supported unless previously supported by a delegate 
 meeting. 
 
 "Any member submitting to an abatement of wages for spoiled 
 work shall be excluded; but shall, if he leave work for refusing to 
 submit to abatement, receive 10«. per week. That any member allow- 
 ing any of his helpers to pitch his rollers, wet or set or put in doctors, 
 &c., shall be fined 5*., for second offence 10s., and for third offence 
 shall be excluded." 
 
 The objects of the General Society of Plasterers are defined as fol- 
 lows. " To protect the interests of our trade by every legal means within 
 our reach ; to create an amicable and friendly understanding amongst 
 operative plasterers ; likewise to maintain a fair rate of wages, and 
 ultimately to reduce the hours of labour to a standard suitable alike to 
 summer and winter; also to protect ourselves against the vast influx 
 
Trades' Societies' Rules. 123 
 
 of boys and men who are not plasterers, ■who are introduced into our 
 trade by selfish and unprincipled speculators in our labour, in a wild 
 endeavour to compete with and undersell each other ; heedless of its 
 ruinous effects upon us and the trade in general." 
 
 The Society is governed by a central committee, composed of a 
 delegate from each district, but all matters of importance are referred 
 by them to the districts, and the votes of the members taken thereon, 
 when the majority is binding, and voting by proxy is not allowed. 
 
 Among the rules the following are worthy of notice : — 
 
 " That if at any time a dispute should arise between the employers 
 and the employed, in the endeavour on the part of anymember to carry 
 out the object of this Society, such member to communicate it to the 
 secretary of his district, who, if the district committee deem it of 
 importance, shall communicate it to the general secretary, with a copy 
 of resolutions founded thereon ; the general secretary shall send copies 
 of the same to all the districts, who in return shall transmit to the 
 general secretary the number for or against it, and the majority to be 
 declared binding. 
 
 " Any member having a charge against another must present it in 
 writing to the secretary of the district to which he belongs, and also 
 deposit 2s. 6d. The secretary to summon the accuser and accused 
 before the district committee, who shall examine the charge, and if 
 the accusation be declared ftivolous, or the accuser be not present to 
 substantiate the charge, he shall forfeit the deposit and pay expenses. 
 
 " Should any member by age, accident, or infirmity, be rendered 
 incapable of earning the standard rate of wages per day, he shaU be 
 allowed to make the best agreement he can with his employer, pro- 
 viding he makes it known to the secretary in the locality to which be 
 belongs the first meeting night after the agreement ; but in the event 
 of any infringement on the trade of which the Society disapprove he 
 shaU act in accordance with its wishes." 
 
 In the rules of the Bookbinders there is little affecting the relation 
 of the members and their employers ; they are generally concerned 
 with benefit purposes and regulations for securing employment for 
 members out of work. Among its rules, the following is worthy of 
 notice. 
 
 " Should any member working piecework leave his work un- 
 finished, upon such circumstance being reported to the committee, 
 they finding the statement to be correct, shall pay the full value of 
 the work so left to the employer, and place the same to the member's 
 arrears, with a fine of ten shillings, which if not paid within three 
 months he shall be erased." 
 
 This Society has established a monthly journal " for the purpose 
 of advocating the rights and privileges of the trade," and it has also 
 a library for the use of its members. 
 
 In the case of the Coopers' Society, which is a purely trade 
 union, with branches throughout the country, there are only two rules 
 which are worthy of notice, viz. 
 
 " That in case of a strike arising with any Society in connexion 
 
124 Report on 
 
 with the Association, other towns being busy to take as many men 
 as they can conveniently to relieve the town on strike, and also any 
 Society in want of men at any time shall first apply to the various 
 Societies amalgamated before any other town. 
 
 " That no private correspondence be allowed by the members with 
 regard to procuring work, but in all cases must apply to the proper 
 officers of the Societies." 
 
 The Machine Workers' is also a national society; but there is nothing 
 in its rules which particularly affects the relations of the members 
 to their employers. 
 
 The Typographical Association is also a national one, the preface 
 to its rules contains the following observations : — 
 
 " That union is strength is an axiom now universally admitted and 
 extensively adopted. From the highest ruling powers down to the 
 very humblest ranks of society, the necessity of combined action for 
 the attainment of any given object has of late years become more and 
 more apparent ; and whether it be the defence of the privileges of a 
 weakly sovereign from the assumptions of a more powerful neighbour, 
 or the maintenance of the rights of labour in opposition to the en- 
 croachments of aggrandising capital, the first step to be taken to 
 insure success is the formation of a strong bond of unity amongst 
 the parties connected with and interested in the movement. . . . 
 The learned professions have their restrictions and their prohibi- 
 tions, their penalties and exclusions, for the avowed purpose of fixing 
 a limit to their numbers, and securing a certain dignity to their 
 order. Manufacturers and other employers of labour have also dis- 
 covered the advantages of united, in place of isolated action ; and 
 numberless unions of these parties have resulted in various parts of 
 the country. But it is chiefly amongst the working classes that the 
 salutary effects of combination, guided by reason and conducted with 
 prudence and moderation, have been experienced and appreciated; and 
 the members of our own 'gentle craft' have not been insensible to 
 its beneficial influences. Through its potent agency the rate of 
 remuneration for our labour has been generally sustained, despite the 
 pressure of a reckless and ruinous competition amongst employers ; 
 whilst in some cases an advance on previous terms has been obtained. 
 We have also been enabled in some degree to check the undue increase 
 of our body consequent upon the introduction into the trade of an 
 imlimited number of apprentices, though our ranks unfortunately 
 still furnish a melancholy disproportion to the existing demand. 
 Our efibrts in this direction have been somewhat marred, and our 
 means circumscribed, by the want of co-operation in those very dis- 
 tricts where the great evil of boy-labour is most extensively practised; 
 and strenuous exertions are about to be used by delegation or 
 otherwise, with a view to illumine the darkness of those benighted 
 regions." 
 
 Among the rules with this view are to be found as follows. " That 
 no office be deemed worthy of imitation where there are a greater 
 number of apprentices than two, unless four journeymen have been 
 
Trades' Societies' Rules. 125 
 
 regularly employed for six montlis, when the number may be increased 
 to three, but on no account to have more." 
 
 "That no new establishment for a weekly or other newspaper, or 
 jobbing office, be allowed to take more than one apprentice until such 
 paper or jobbing office shall have been in existence twelve months." 
 " That no newspaper or other publication shall be 'farmed,' and any 
 member offering to bring out any publication under the established 
 price-scale of the town shall be expelled the Association." 
 
 " That no member of this Association who shall hold a permanent 
 situation shall be permitted to work for any other master than the 
 one by whom he is engaged, when any member connected with this 
 body is out of employment, or when any other fair and honourable 
 printer can be employed." 
 
 " That fifty-nine hours per week be the maximum of working time 
 for established wages. The remuneration for overtime and Sunday 
 work to be left to local regulation." 
 
 A monthly circular is published by the Society, in which the 
 names of employers who do not accede to the terms of the Society 
 are printed. 
 
 The Sheffield Typographical Society is a branch of the above, and 
 has among its additional rules, the following. 
 
 " That when a boy is introduced into an office to take part in the 
 business, it shall be ascertained whether he is intended to be bound ; 
 and if not, he shall not be allowed to work; and if it is found that the 
 boy is to be bound to the business, he shall be allowed to work two 
 months, but no longer, previous to the indenture being ratified. 
 
 " That the wages of the town be twenty-eight shillings per week, 
 and that fifty-nine hours' labour per week be the standard for the 
 members, and if required to labour a greater number of hours, sixpence 
 per hour shall be paid for such overtime. Daily news hands to be paid 
 5s. more per week than the ordinary 'stab, of the town for fifty-nine 
 hours' labour, and? sevenpence per hour for all hours above that 
 number. If required to work after ten o'clock in the evening or 
 before five in the morning threepence per hour extra to be charged, 
 and if employed on the Sunday, the mode of charge to be the same 
 as for nightwork. A month's notice to be given and required. 
 
 " That if persons engaged on established wages be required to change 
 to permanent piecework prices, or vice versa, a fortniglit's notice to 
 that effect shall be given by the employer to the employed previous to 
 such change. 
 
 " That persons called in to assist in any office connected with this 
 Society shall not be paid less than half a day's wages." 
 
 The Seamen's United Protection Society is a national society, but 
 apparently confined to the coal trade. 
 
 The objects, as stated in the preface to its rules, are worthy of 
 notice : — 
 
 " When the war ended in 1815, the Government, without the least 
 consideration for those who had battled on the ocean in defence of 
 their king and country, disbanded the fleets, and cast adrift some 
 
a 
 
 126 Report on 
 
 thousands of seamen suddenly, to find employment in the merchant 
 service. Wages in consequence fell. From the year 1815, seamen, as 
 a class, though increasing in numbers and intelligence, were sinking 
 yearly in value. Wages were always falling, never rising. Wages 
 in the coasting trade had sunk from £10 to £2 15*. per voyage. The 
 sailor's labour was not paid in proportion to the danger incurred and 
 work performed. Had the constant fall in wages gone on, there was 
 a prospect of seamen sailing ships for their mere food. To disgrace 
 the British flag and to degrade the character of the merchant service 
 It was seriously proposed to turn all the young thieves out of the gaols 
 and pay owners a small premium to apprentice them. Then again it 
 was proposed by the Admiralty to pension off 5000 naval seamen and 
 to force them into the home coasting trade and form a naval reserve. 
 This insane attempt to drive the regular seaman from the home trade 
 was abandoned when the scheme was properly exposed. 
 
 "In 1850 the Mercantile Marine Act awakened seamen to a full 
 sense of their rights and wrongs, and taught them to appreciate 
 their marketable price. This Act was intended to compel all seamen 
 to go before a shipping master on shipment, and discharge and pay 
 Is. each time, however short the voyage. The Act contained also 
 clauses of an oppressive character. The Legislature, prompted by 
 crotchetty enthusiasts, every year brought forth some new and crude 
 measui-es interfering with owners and seamen. The seamen of most 
 ports agitated for the repeal of the Act of 1850, and in 1851 the 
 umon was formed. From that time a change for the better has been 
 inaugurated. The seamen have had the satisfaction of seeing re- 
 gister tickets, or seamen's passports, abolished ; fixed payment to the 
 merchant seamen's fund has gone the same road ; coal wliipj)ing by 
 seamen m the Thames has received its death blow ; the coasting 
 trade has been relieved from the ofiiciousness of a shipping master 
 and the shilling imposition ; small stores or payment instead has been 
 allowed ; wages have risen, so have fi-eights ; ships sailed by mem- 
 bers ot the Society are better manned ; and lastly, improvements in 
 the law have helped slightly to ameliorate the condition of seamen 
 as a class. These social, legal, and physical rights have been gained 
 without injury to the owners. In many instances owners have 
 expressed themselves heartily pleased with the struggle made by 
 seamen in the advancement of their interests. It now rests with 
 the members to follow up so good a beginning, to stick to the Society 
 through good and bad repute, and use every legitimate means to urge 
 upon the Legislature the necessity of giving to seamen increased pro- 
 tection against being compelled to go to sea in unseaworthy ships." 
 
 The rules of this Society contain the most strict regulations as to 
 the rate of wages, with tables for the rates to and from the various 
 ports of England and the Continent, and the foUovring appear to be 
 specially worthy of notice. 
 
 " No member shall work, whip, or discharge coals at any creek, 
 quay, or wharf, in the port of London or the river Thames ; nor at 
 any hulk, the Gravesend Canal, or Lobster Wharf, such work being an 
 
Trades' Societies' Rules. 127 
 
 unjust interference with the labour of men who get their li-ving by 
 such work. And no member shall work coals at byports with less 
 than four hands up and four down on board of any vessel shipping or 
 putting out either by the voyage or by average thirteen sacks of coals 
 and upwards." 
 
 " That no member of this Society sail in any ship from the N. E. 
 ports, or from other ports where branch societies exist, unless the 
 crew are all members of this Society, apprentices excepted; and in 
 order to prevent any party contention on shipboard regarding mem- 
 bership it is desired that each member shall produce his medal pre- 
 vious to signing articles. 
 
 " If a strike takes place for wages or other grievances in any port 
 where the seamen are in union, and the owners or masters of such 
 ports apply to any other port for seamen, each member pledges him- 
 self not to go and man the ship of such owner or master to the injury 
 of the seamen so unshipped. 
 
 " In order to discourage irregular strikes, no cessation from work 
 in any port shall take place without a regular convened delegate meet- 
 ing. At such delegate meeting all the facts of the case shall be laid 
 before the delegates, and such delegates shall decide whether it be 
 prudent that a strike should take place, whether it shall be general 
 or local, and what assistance shall be given." 
 
 " That, if any honafide member has been seriously imposed upon by 
 the master or owner of the ship in which he has been employed, the 
 said member shaU lay his case clearly in writing before the secretary 
 and committee of the port where the ship may happen to be ; and 
 if the complaint be such as to induce the committee to procure legal 
 advice, any expense arising from such suit shall be repaid out of the 
 funds of the local society to which he belongs to the branch ad- 
 vancing the money for such purpose. But if it appears in the 
 examination that the committee have been imposed upon by a misre- 
 presentation of his case, or the member has withheld any information 
 so as to mislead the secretary or committee, the member himself shall 
 bear all the expenses incurred. 
 
 " In all cases of appeal the expenses shall be borne equally between 
 all branches. 
 
 " No member to sign articles to forfeit his wages, or any portion of 
 his wages, during the time a vessel may be frozen up in the Baltic or 
 elsewhere. 
 
 " That wages in colliers by run be two-thirds of a voyage ; one 
 pound less than the voyage for run ships, and steamers ten shillings 
 more than the half voyage. 
 
 " That the wages in screw colliers be 25*. per week, with provision 
 found till further notice. Crew to be all members of Society." 
 
 The Sunderland Seamen's Society is a branch of the above society, 
 and incorporates its rules. Among the additional rules are the 
 following : — 
 
 " No member will be allowed to assemble on the river Wear, the 
 quays or docks in a tumultuous or riotous manner, or to stop or detain 
 
128 Report on 
 
 any ship or vessel on any pretence, or to take the crew of any ship or 
 vessel out of her against their own consent. 
 
 " Members sailing by the voyage in vessels to Hamburg are re- 
 quested to pay attention to this rule. After the arrival of the vessel 
 at Hamburg, and no cargo having been discharged for three or four 
 days, it is requested that members work no more cargo per day than 
 the ship is chartered for per day without being paid for the extra 
 labour they have to perform by such detention. 
 
 " That all carpenters be permitted to sail in any vessel without con- 
 tributing towards the funds of this Society, provided such carpenters 
 are members of their own society. Should any sea going carpenter 
 not be permitted to enter the Shipwrights' Society, he will be obliged 
 to become a member of the Seamen's Society. 
 
 " Should members of the Seamen's Society have to leave a vessel 
 for wages, the carpenters must leave also. 
 
 " That no mate or seaman do any shipwright work or caulk in ports 
 in the river Wear, and that no carpenter act as carpenter and mate 
 on board of any ship at the same time." 
 
 The Wear Shipwrights' Society has adopted the following among 
 its rules : — 
 
 " If any member shall take any piecework, or solicit for any, where 
 a branch of this Society exists, he shall be fined £1, and other mem- 
 bers working at the same yard shall call a meeting, who shall decide 
 what steps to take. 
 
 " Any member commencing work in the morning previous to the 
 usual time of starting, or leaving the yard before five p.m. when 
 caulking, shall be fined 2s. 6d., and that all men be found six running 
 wedges. If the men be removed from one side of the vessel to the 
 other, they will be entitled to double wedge money. 
 
 " That if any member takes his tail-end wedge out of the seam, 
 or commence another before all hands are ready, he shall be fined. 
 
 " That no labourer be allowed to carry any material, make stages, 
 or assist to lay ways or any other portion of shipwright work. 
 
 " In caulking an old vessel, 80 feet to be considered a day's work. 
 " When working at a vessel on a Sunday, every man to receive 
 double pay ; and if working at a vessel on the strand on a Sunday, 
 and she comes off on that day, four tides to be charged for the tide 
 she comes off. 
 
 " That when from home above the prescribed distance, men to be 
 paid for a day's work for the Sunday, but not to work." 
 
 The Lancashire Amalgamated Power-Loom Weavers is an important 
 Society. Its objects are stated to be, " To keep up our present rate of 
 wages to the standard list, and to be able to resist any attempts to re- 
 duce the same, and also to prevent one employer paying less than 
 another for the same amount and quality of work, and more particu- 
 larly to bring up the prices of those who are paying the lowest rate 
 of wages, also the redressing of any grievances between the employers 
 and employed." 
 
 It is governed by a committee, consisting of one representative to 
 
Trades^ Societies' Rules. 129 
 
 every 700 members, wlio have power to object to or approve of 
 strikes when other means to settle disputed matters fail ; one-third 
 of this committee constitutes a quorum, and shall be unanimous 
 in all its resolutions unless there be present a majority of its 
 members. 
 
 As to disputes, it is provided that, " if the members of this Society 
 in any mill or shop should have a reduction of prices offered them, or 
 should the imposition of any rule or regulation be attempted that is 
 calculated to curtail the earning of those members, or render their 
 situations unnecessarily uncomfortable ; or should the prices be already 
 so low as to justify an advance, the members of each mill shall make 
 a full statement in writing of their grievances, to be called a ' Bill of 
 Grievances,' and they shall lay it before the district committee, who 
 after investigation shall take such steps as shall amicably arrange the 
 matter between the employer and the employed. But if this be found 
 impossible without encroaching on the wages and privileges of its mem- 
 bers, then the district committee shall direct its secretary to send a 
 copy of the bill of grievances to the general secretary, who shall for- 
 ward a copy of it to the committee of every district with summons 
 calling a meeting of the executive committee. 
 
 " Should the central executive committee resolve that the members 
 of the mill from which the bill emanates shall strike, the said mem- 
 bers shall be authorized to give a legal notice to their employer that 
 they intend to leave his employ, and if arrangements be not come to, 
 the said members shall leave their work, and be entitled to support 
 from this Association, and each district shall pay towards the sup- 
 port of such strike in proportion to the number of its members." 
 
 The Chain and Trace Makers' Society is of a similar nature, and is 
 established in the iron district about Stourbridge. The preface to 
 its rules states as follows : — 
 
 "It is obvious that fast as the chain trade has extended within 
 the last few years, chain masters and chain makers have multiplied 
 atill faster. The result has been, that many masters have had to com- 
 pete with each other in the market. Orders have frequently been 
 scarce, and consequently of the many masters some of them at times 
 had but few, if any; those masters who would execute them at the 
 lowest price had them, and they again generally gave them to those 
 workmen who would work cheapest ; this continual barter, together 
 with disunion and feelings of jealousy towards each other among the 
 workmen, allowed the masters to give us for our labour almost what 
 they chose, both with regard to quality and kind. Hence, while some 
 few masters paid us a miserable low price, which, though nominally the 
 same, was in reality much less, being paid in goods, and sometimes 
 very inferior goods charged for much higher than the market price." 
 
 Among the rules are as follows : — 
 
 " That the Association be called the Chain and Trace Makers' Anti- 
 Truck and Price Protective Association, and that its prominent ob- 
 jects be to unite all chain and trace makers, with a view to secure a 
 reasonable remuneration for their labour, and utterly to destroy (at 
 
 K 
 
130 Report on 
 
 least as far as the trade is concerned) the payment of wages in goods 
 instead of money. 
 
 " No member shall work for any master who trucks any of his 
 workmen." 
 
 " That every master shall give, and every member demand, a 
 similar price for a similar quantity of work. If any member be 
 detected working under price or receiving truck he shall be fined 5s., 
 and should he persist in so acting, all others who make chains or 
 traces shall desist from working for his employer till such member be 
 discharged. 
 
 " All those who were regularly at work at the trade when the Union 
 was first formed to be admitted, but that none who may begin after that 
 time, except the wives and children of chain makers, or such as may 
 become apprenticed according to rule, be admitted. 
 
 "That the female members of this Association, who marry work- 
 men of other trades, shall not teach their husbands, nor their children 
 while their husbands live, nor shall they have any apprentice. 
 
 •' No member to be allowed to make finishing work, or prepare tools 
 for any persons not recognised as masters. 
 
 " That the trade be divided into districts ; and collectors, if they 
 discover any person at work, who has not a proper title to the trade, 
 shall report the same to the general meeting." 
 
 The Lace Makers' Society of Nottingham have the following 
 passage in their address : — 
 
 " There is a reciprocal relation between master and man, which, if 
 rightly understood and properly acted upon, will tend to the welfare 
 of both, for their interests are identical, and lie in the same channel, 
 and the wealth that flows for the benefit of one should flow for the 
 benefit of the other, and the operative receive his fair ratio of the 
 capital which he has been the means of providing. Let us not be 
 misunderstood, we wish not to dictate either to master or man, but to 
 leave the one in the full exercise of those privileges which, as a 
 capitalist, he has a right to enjoy, and the other free and unfettered, 
 and at perfect liberty to dispose of his labour under whatever cir- 
 cumstances or in whatever manner he may find most convenient to 
 his interest and his feelings. 
 
 " We might enlarge further upon the necessity of a union between 
 master and man, not only to keep up a reasonable price for the work- 
 man, but to enable the master to get a fair remuneration for that 
 serious outlay of capital which is required in our branch of business, 
 but which he will not be enabled to do if unprincipled individuals 
 are allowed to take so unnecessary an advantage of the redundancy 
 of labour in a bad trade, and bate his hands to enable him to force a 
 sale of his goods, and , consequently compel other individuals to do 
 the same. 
 
 "The value of capital is consequently reduced, and so serious is the 
 reduction becoming, that many of the masters coincide with the men 
 joining the present Uniori — on the success of which mainly depends 
 our creditable position in society." 
 
Trades^ Societies' Rules. 131 
 
 The rules of this Society ara not otherwise worthy of remark; 
 much is left to the discretion of the executive committee. 
 
 In the address of the Saw Makers of Sheffield we find as follows : — 
 
 " The apprentice question demands your most serious considera- 
 tion. For years a great portion of your funds has been spent in 
 endeavouring to stop the tide of mischief that has flowed on, almost 
 unchecked, through the gross injustice we have suffered in not 
 having ( like almost all other trades), to some extent, the control of 
 the apprentices. It is admitted on all sides, that it requires more 
 than the average amount of close application, combined with natural 
 talent, to make what is termed a skilful saw maker. How necessary, 
 then, it is that the apprentices should be under the tuition of acknow- 
 ledged good workmen in every factory, no matter whether they are 
 working for the benefit of master or workman. How is it then there 
 are so many unskilled workmen in the trade ? Simply because, on 
 the one hand, manufacturers of cheap goods, who at all favourable 
 opportunities continue to introduce numbers of boys into the trade, 
 for no other purpose than to undersell their more respectable neigh- 
 bours. Not content with a generous competition, they are heedless 
 as to the means employed, provided the end is gained ; thus 
 perpetuating a double evil — namely, an inferior class of goods is 
 brought under the market, and the boys, being left without that super- 
 vision and instruction which is necessary to insure good workmen, 
 are turned loose upon the world, unfit to go into a first class shop. 
 The question then is, how can this evil be remedied ? The most 
 feasible plan appears to be, to endeavour to cultivate a good feeling 
 between the employer and employed, and, if possible, put an end to 
 all ground of dispute by settling the question amicably amongst 
 themselves. If this fail, then, and not till then, would a strike for 
 the attainment of the object be justifiable. ... It is desirable that 
 unity of action should be the watchword of all ; for a working man 
 to act individually in the protection of his labour is to prefer the 
 strength of one to that of many. Every manufacturing town in 
 England will prove the fact, that just as a trade has been united or 
 disunited so have the wages been maintained or reduced ; and as 
 the experience of every trade has shown that union is the only 
 safeguard of labour, so it is by union that, the interests of the mer- 
 cantile and professional portions of the community are cemented ; 
 hence arise the Chambers of Commerce, the Inns and Courts of 
 Law, and an innumerable host of other societies. How important, 
 then, that labour should have the same privileges that are so freely 
 granted to capital. Put aside, then, your petty differences, and unite 
 in one bond of brotherhood ; and as coercion is the opposite of convic- 
 tion, moral means must be used to advance the interests of our order." 
 
 In accordance with the above is the following rule, " Manufacturers 
 are to have one boy to every four men permanently employed." 
 
 The Eailway Spring Makers' Society address their members to the 
 following effect. "Considering that the trade whereby we live is our 
 property, bought by certain years of servitude, which give us a 
 
 k2 
 
1 32 Report on 
 
 vested rin-ht, and that we have a sole and exclusive claim upon it, as 
 all ■will have hereafter who purchase it by the same means, such 
 being the case, it is evident that it is every man's duty to protect by 
 all fair and legal means the property whereby he lives, being always 
 equally careful not to trespass on the rights of others. ... In order 
 to establish right feeling and good understanding among us, and that 
 the rights of the employer and the employed may be equally pro- 
 tected, we conjointly resolve to be govei-ned by the following rules, 
 never losing sight of our motto, 'United to support but not to 
 injure.' " 
 
 Among the rules to be noticed are the following : — " The entrance 
 money for qualified persons (connected with the trade and working 
 .at the same) to be £1. Should there at any time be a scarcity of 
 lands, and strangers unconnected with the trade have to be brought 
 in, they shall pay £3 as entrance money, and shall not be entitled 
 to any benefits until twelve months after the whole of their entrance 
 fee has been paid." 
 
 " That there be a committee of arbitration appointed, consisting of 
 president, secretary, and nine of the most judicious members of the 
 Society, to whom shall be referred all disputes arising between 
 masters and men, so that they may, if possible, be settled in an ami- 
 cable manner." 
 
 The Factoiy Operatives' Society of Coventry addresses its mem- 
 bers as- follows : — 
 
 " The Association having been established more than seven years, 
 has rendered great assistance to its members, as it has been the means 
 of putting down many acts of tyranny and oppression, such as illegal 
 stoppages of wages, dismissal from employment without proper notice, 
 and maintaining the Acts of Parliament made for the protection of 
 those working in factories. It has had a tendency to raise wages, 
 cause a better feeling and organization among factory workers, and 
 ra.ised them in the scale of social society." There are rules to meet 
 the emergency of strikes, but no trade regulations. 
 
 The Morocco Leather Finishers' Society of London has the fol- 
 lowing among its rules. 
 
 " As this institution is founded upon principles calculated for the 
 relief of men who are dependent on those placed in more afiluent cir- 
 cumstances, and on whom their principal dependence for the support 
 of themselves and families rests, we therefore wish and trust, that 
 none will apply for admission who are not seriously disposed to study 
 the true interestof their employers, and to pay them that respect which 
 their situation demands and their conduct justifies, at the same time 
 do protect and relieve their fellow-workmen in the hour of difficulty 
 and distress." 
 
 The Upholsterers of Liverpool have among them rules as follows. 
 
 "Any member procuring work directly or indirectly for any other 
 
 upholsterer than one of this Association when there is one on the 
 
 bar book, shall be summoned before the committee and fined two 
 
 shillings and sixpence. 
 
Trades' Societies' Rules. 133 
 
 ' ' No member shall receive less than twenty-eight shillings per week. 
 
 "That no member work more than fourteen days with a non -member, 
 
 but should such a one come to work in any shop, the members shall 
 
 give notice thereof to the standing committee, who shall appoint a 
 
 member to wait on and solicit him to join this Association." 
 
 And the following we take from the rules of the Tin Plate 
 Workers of Glasgow. 
 
 "That no member be allowed to engage with an employer so as to 
 prevent his leaving him after two weeks' notice has been given. 
 
 " Any journeymen not connected with the Society commencing to 
 work in shops where all the men are members of the Society, must 
 become members by the first monthly night following, as it is believed 
 that there are few men who have any serious objections towards the 
 Society, and as it is considered that this is necessary for the pur- 
 pose of carrying out the objects of the trade. 
 
 " Should any member after the decision of a committee and a general 
 meeting on his case, appeal to a court of law for redress, he shall be 
 expelled this Society, and forfeit all interest he has in the Society's, 
 funds." 
 
 In the address of this Society there is the following passage: — 
 "It is now about twenty-two years since the formation of the 
 Society, and during that period, by the united action of its members,, 
 it has been able to control circumstances to our advantage by 
 shortening the hours of labour (whatever necessity may still exist 
 for a further diminution) and raising our wages to something coming 
 nearer an adequacy for our just requirements. ... As you are 
 aware, there are two classes in society, the one class labour and pro- 
 duce as well as consume ; the other consume only. The latter class, 
 what do they lack, or what have they not ? The former class, at all 
 events the great majority of the working classes, what have they, 
 we may say, for their incessant toil ? Why that which may feed the 
 machine to keep him in working trim ; but certainly neither the 
 means nor the opportunity for that recreation and intellectual im- 
 provement which is requisite for the proper action of the body and. 
 mind. Labour should have its rights and enjoy them as well as 
 capital." 
 
 The preface to the rules of the Casters and Stonemen of Glasgow's 
 Society is to the same eifect. 
 
 In the same tone the Society of Plumbers of Liverpool addresses 
 its members, as follows. " The utility of societies established for 
 purposes similar to the present is now generally acknowledged, not 
 only for the benefits secured to their members, but also for their 
 good effect in keeping up a remunerative rate of wages ; for a slight 
 reflection on the matter cannot fail to enable them to perceive, that 
 but for the efforts made by these bodies, the attempts made to reduce 
 wages and increase the hours of labour would not have been so suc- 
 cessfully met and resisted as they have been during the last few 
 years. 
 
 " The laws respecting strikes— happily so much less called for of 
 
134 Report on 
 
 late — are stated as explicitly as the nature of the case will admit. 
 The n-ood sense of the members will, no doubt, lead to great caution 
 on this point, in order to effect an amicable arrangement of any dis- 
 pute or contemplated innovation, instead of rashly having recourse to 
 extreme measures, alike subversive of the interests of the employer 
 and the employed. At the same time, every legal and just endeavour 
 should be made to maintain the present standard of wages, and to 
 prove to the employer the injustice and injury to himself, his cus- 
 tomers, and the operatives, arising from the overstocking the trade 
 with apprentices in undue proportion to the number of hands em- 
 ployed." 
 
 The rules which follow are similar to many that have been described 
 above. A majority of the Society must decide on a strike, but in 
 every instance a deputation must previously be appointed to wait on 
 the employer, to urge upon him a respectful but firm remonstrance 
 against the act of innovation or encroachment complained of, and 
 the secretary must be informed of the number of plumbers in the 
 town, the number of plumbers unconnected, the number of members 
 out of employment, the state of trade, and every other particular 
 necessary for the consideration of the Society. 
 
 In the Potters of G-lasgow's Society, the committee have not power 
 to advise more than four members to leave their situations at once. 
 Should the number of members involved in a dispute be more than 
 four, a general meeting must decide as to the steps to be taken. 
 
 " We have no doubt that some employers will look upon this society 
 ■with a suspicious eye, and think it is got up for no other purpose 
 than to be in mere opposition to them and their interests ; we have no 
 such intention ; we wish the interests of the employer and employed 
 to be mutually and equally protected." 
 
 "Any member losing his employment through intemperance, 
 neglect, or insolence to his employer, shall forfeit all claim to aliment 
 for the space of six weeks." — Cloth Lappers of Glasgow. 
 
 "As man alone, in a servile state, is a being weak, helpless, and de- 
 fenceless, it was found necessary for those who had one common inte- 
 rest at stake, to unite together for support and defence ; as twenty 
 men would be better able to preserve their persons and properties from 
 rapacity, injustice, and oppression. . . . The laws of God and of 
 justice declare, that ' the labourer is worthy of his hire,' and loudly de- 
 mand that he should secure a fair and equitable remuneration for his 
 labour. To obtain this, a counter society was the poor man's only 
 hope, not only that he might thereby obtain his right, but also that 
 he might raise a barrier against further oppression — an invulnerable 
 bulwark erected on justice, cemented by unanimity, firmness, and 
 brotherly love." — Coopers of Glasgow. 
 
 The Journeymen Bakers of Glasgow express themselves to much 
 the same effect; amongst their rules are the following: — 
 
 That no member engage upon any other terms than a cash wage, 
 nor for a longer period than one week, and that he receive the full 
 amount of his wage at the end of the week, also a week's warning be 
 
Trades' Societies' Rules. 135 
 
 given and taken by both parties, and that be receive payment of all 
 fast days in lieu of Sabbath-day sponging. 
 
 Any member working on a fast day to receive one day's pay over 
 and above his regular wages. 
 
 That no member work longer than twelve hours per day, meal 
 hours included; but if members show to the committee that arrange- 
 ments are in actual operation for additional accommodation, over 
 hours will be granted in the afternoon. 
 
 That no member work beside a non-member. 
 
 The Joiners of Glasgow address their members as follows. 
 
 " In the present state of the law, no legislative enactment being 
 in existence by virtue of which the conflicting claims of capital and 
 labour may be equally adjusted, it becomes the duty of working men 
 to have recourse to all constitutional means to remedy this evil in 
 the state of society, and to supply this deficiency in the law, by the 
 adoption of the means best calculated to promote their interests or 
 defend those interests when assailed. . . . Unity of interests and 
 aim bespeaks unity of action. The social salvation of the working 
 classes must be wrought out by their own exertions, through the 
 instrumentality of persevering, faithful union," and so on. The rules 
 call for no special notice. 
 
 The Ovenmen, Kilmnen, and Saggar Makers of Burslem state in the 
 preamble to their rules as follows : — " The degradation and ruin to 
 whicli our trade is more especially exposed than any other branch in 
 the potting department, and the nefarious actions daily practised upon 
 us by tyrannical manufacturers, ambitious bailiffs, and unthinking,, 
 unprincipled, and knavish undertakers of work, are the consequent 
 and main reasons of us uniting in one combined body, and to prevent 
 the recurrence and increase of the evils we are now contending with, 
 and to obtain and maintain a reasonable remuneration for our labour, 
 to resist and restrain tyrannical power, emanating from where it 
 may; and to afford mutual protection to each and every member that 
 is oppressed, and to promote each other's good in every possible and 
 laudable way, are the objects of our Society." 
 
 The rules which follow are of an ordinary character, and do not 
 call for anjf notice, with this exception : " That every member shall 
 honestly serve his employer according to his agreement; but if the 
 master break his agreement, then such breach of conduct shall be 
 referred to the council committee, whose decision shall be final." 
 
 Among the rules of the Flat Pressers' Society we find as follows. 
 
 " That the Executive Committee shall study the most favourable 
 opportunities that occur, and use every means within its power to 
 regulate the number of apprentices in proportion to the journeymen, 
 namely, not more than one apprentice to three journeymen. 
 
 " That the Executive Committee shall as much as possible equalize 
 the price of labour ; it shall as much as possible avoid all strikes, and 
 never sanction one, however strongly recommended, until every other 
 means have been tried; and then if it appears that justice to the trade 
 demands one, it shall receive at least the sanction of the majority of 
 
136 Report on 
 
 the lodges before it can be considered as final ; it shall then be in the 
 power of the committee, if necessary, to lay one extra levy for that 
 purpose. 
 
 " That in all cases of dispute between employers and members of 
 this Society taken to the County Court, each member undertakes to 
 pay into the Society, in case the trial is decided in his favour, all monies, 
 advanced either by the Society or their attorney on his account ; but 
 if through ignorance, misunderstanding, misrepresentation, or any 
 unforeseen circumstances the trial be lost, suchperson or persons acting 
 as aforesaid agree to pay one-half of the loss, and the Society the 
 other." 
 
 The HoUowware Pressers have adopted rules to same effect. 
 
 The Operative Slaters' Trade Protecting Society of Glasgow pur- 
 ports to have been instituted the 2nd of September, 1852. 
 
 In the preamble to its rules the following passages may deserve 
 quotation : — 
 
 " We should not, however, circumscribe the time, the energies, and 
 the means of trades' unions to the mere maintaining or advancing 
 the wages of labour ; but that as fellow labourers with, and powerful 
 auxiliaries to, the various philanthropic movements in our behalf, they 
 may powerfully aid in the social regeneration of the children of toil. 
 
 " The hourly exposure to accidental death and maimed bodies, 
 which is a natural consequence of our occupation, if rewarded on the 
 principles of equity and justice (as acknowledged and acted upon 
 in all fire and life insurance transactions, that the greater hazard 
 should bear the higher premium), would undoubtedly place us amongst 
 the best paid class of operatives in the kingdom. 
 
 " The annually recurring periods of protracted stagnation, caused 
 by the almost entire cessation of demand for our labour in the winter 
 season, is also a disadvantage peculiarly severe; . . . yet . . . our 
 remuneration has ever been allowed by all disinterested minds to be 
 most inadequate, and no surprise need be felt that the usual fruits, 
 have followed — ignorance and misery, intemperance and crime. 
 
 " As this numerous train of social evils may be traced for the most 
 part to our own neglect and disunion, we must find within ourselves 
 the remedy ; and by means of permanent organization, self-culture, 
 and self-reliance, attempt to stem the farther progress of our social 
 degradation, and then to rise in the scale of moral, social, and 
 domestic well-being. " 
 
 The objects of the Society are defined to be, "to procure an equitable 
 remuneration for our labour, and to aid in vindicating the rights of 
 labour generally, by all moral and legal means." 
 
 Amongst the rules we may remark the allowance of " a liberal 
 deduction on both entry money and levies, according to age and 
 infirmities," to " slaters above fifty years of age; " the formation of a 
 " registration book " for apprentices, in which " the men in the 
 squad " are to see that every lad working, has his name enrolled, the 
 ratio of apprentices to journeymen being fixed as one to four ; the re- 
 gulations as to tramps and their cards. " No warnings " are "either 
 
Trades^ Societies' Rules. 137 
 
 to be asked or given, nor task work executed, nor engagements entered 
 into under employers," by any member of the Society. Any reduc- 
 tion of wages, " or other glaring encroachment," is to be reported the 
 same day by the aggrieved parties to an officer of the Society, who is 
 to convene the committee. A fine of \s. is inflicted on any member 
 " working on Saturday afternoons," but is not to apply to men working 
 in the country. "The object of this rule is to prevent men from 
 working on Saturday afternoons unnecessarily, the masters having 
 consented to pay double time in case of necessity." No labourer is 
 "to work at any description of work which ought to be done by a 
 slater." 
 
 The Society is connected with district societies, and sends a dele- 
 gate to the Glasgow " Council of United Trades." To the rules is 
 annexed a member's pass book, giving in five separate columns the 
 " date," " cash received in writing," "cash received in figures," " fines 
 and arrears," and " secretary's initials." 
 
 The objects of the Liverpool Painters' Society are stated to be, 
 " to promote the interests of its members in procuring employment, 
 to protect them in the due exercise of their rights and privileges as 
 workmen, to mediate when necessary between the employer and his 
 men for the furtherance of their common interests ; and generally to 
 promote the welfare and stability of the trade in accordance with the 
 statute 5 Geo. IV. c 95, intituled. An Act to Repeal the Laws relative 
 to the Combination of Workmen ; " among the rules to be noticed are 
 as follows — 
 
 " That where practicable, no member shall be allowed to work in 
 
 shops where more than one apprentice is employed for every six men. 
 
 " That no member shall work for any employer under the stipulated 
 
 rate of wages agreed upon for the time being by the members in 
 
 general meeting assembled. 
 
 " That no member shall work on Sunday or Christmas Day unless 
 he receive double pay for the same, and no member to work more 
 than two hours per quarter overtime. 
 
 " That any member going to work in the country, where he cannot 
 get home to his family on Saturday night, be allowed sixpence per 
 day country money, independent of lodging money ; and any member 
 going to work on board of any ship lying in the river must either be 
 provided with his victuals or receive one shilling per day extra 
 wages in place of the same. 
 
 " Operatives not members going to work in a shop in connexion 
 with this Society shall be requested to join the Society within five 
 days of their entrance ; on their refusal to do so, notice shall be 
 given to the committee, who shall then take such steps as they deem' 
 necessary." 
 
 The Tailors' Institute of Liverpool states, " that the trade has been 
 reduced to its present deplorable state by the gradual introduction of 
 what has been fitly called the ' Sweating System.' This condition 
 demands the serious attention of every member of the trade and of 
 the public. The Society is established as a means of guarding 
 
138 Report on 
 
 against and removing these abuses, by bringing the power of public 
 opinion to bear upon them as the most effectual check to these evils, 
 and as a means of improving the social, moral, and intellectual con- 
 dition of its members, by providing a library, reading-room, &c. It 
 will likewise be the means of creating a reciprocity of feeling and 
 interests between the employer and the employed, by constituting 
 it a free labour market ; it will also advocate the being employed in 
 wholesome and healthy work-shops belonging to the employer. By 
 the adoption of these and other sanitary measures, and by obtaining 
 employment for our unemployed, we hope to make the Institute the 
 means of elevating our trade from the degraded position it at present 
 holds." Its objects are further stated to be " to keep before the pub- 
 lic mind the demoralizing effects of Sunday labour and the evil re- 
 sults of the sweating system." 
 
 "With this view, every member of this Institute agrees to discoun- 
 tenance Sunday labour, and that the working hours commence at six 
 A.M. and close at seven p.m., dinner hour excluded — and that every 
 member and master tailor is hereby earnestly solicited to carry out 
 the above object as far as practicable. 
 
 " That the Institute guarantees to all employers connected with it 
 the efficiency of its members as workmen ; and undertakes to make 
 good all work spoiled through negligence, providing all the men in the 
 employ are bona fide members of the Institute." 
 
 " That this Institute being established on the principles of strict 
 justice between the employer and the employed, all disputes between 
 them shall be submitted to arbitration." 
 
 The Plasterers' Society of the same town is a branch of the larger 
 Society before mentioned, and the rules are confined to regulations as 
 to hours of labour and rate of wages, certain boundaries are fixed, be- 
 yond which the workman's lodgings are to be paid by the employers, 
 or time allowed to walk home at the rate of three miles per hour; for 
 all jobs over four miles and under eight miles, expenses to be allowed 
 to come home once a week; if over eight and under twelve, once a 
 fortnight; over twelve and under twenty, once a month; over twenty 
 miles every three months. 
 
 " All piecework is strictly prohibited, and all lathing to be done 
 by plasterers; any lathing done by others that are not plasterers shall 
 not be covered by members of this Society." 
 
 The three Societies next hereinafter noticed, all spring from the 
 West Yorkshire colliery strike of 1858-9, which in the first place de- 
 veloped a " Miners' Association for the West Yorkshire District" 
 (March, 1858), then a " Miners' Association of the United Kingdom" 
 (November 9, 1858), both of which have however now disappeared. 
 
 The rules of the " United Trades' Association of Miners, Salt 
 Makers, and Boatmen of Lancashire and Cheshire," passed June 6,' 
 1859, must be read as if the word "boatmen" were omitted, this class of 
 its members having receded. The object of the Association "is to se- 
 cure the greatest amount of social happiness possible for those in con- 
 nexion with it, by mutually combining to secure the rights of labour, 
 
In the revised rules of the "Miners' Association of the Adwalton 
 and Drighhngton District" (June, 1860), the rule that the Associa- 
 tion will not support or defend any of its members who shall violate 
 the laws of the land, " unless he can give undeniable satisfaction to 
 the district board of directors that he is not in the wrong according to 
 the rules and regulations of this Association,"— and the rule that "no 
 miner or byeworkman," who are not joined to the Association "shall 
 be allowed to work in any of the collieries which may from time to 
 time be joined to this Association," are entirely struck out; and the 
 rule that no colliery or lodge is to be allowed to strike or cease work 
 on any account, except by order of the district board of directors, is 
 exchanged for the more practical one, "that should any colliery or 
 lodge strike or cease work without the consent of the district 
 meeting, they shall receive no pay from the funds of this Association 
 during the strike." 
 
Trades' Societies' Rules. 139 
 
 to equalize the hours, and to perform it according to rule or system, 
 and to see that it be justly remunerated." The rules contemplate an 
 " agitation fund," and the insertion of " articles in the public papers 
 bearing on the interests of this Association." The "labour protection 
 fund " is for the relief of " all persons who may be discharged through 
 taking an active part in the question of labour and wages." No " pit, 
 or part of a pit, or colliery, or district, or other trade connected with 
 this Association" is to be entitled to the aid of the general board unless, 
 on the arising of a dispute between employers and employed, the gene- 
 ral financial secretary is made acquainted with the particulars, who 
 then summons, if necessary, six " of the most experienced workmen 
 to form a committee, viz. two from the pit or bank where the dispute 
 arises, one from the salt makers [one from the boatmen], and 
 the rest from the miners ; in all cases the secretary to attend." The 
 decision of this committee is to be " legal and acted upon." The 
 Association " will not support or defend any member who shall in any 
 way violate the laws of his country, and by so doing lose his 
 employment." 
 
 The " Miners' Association of the Adwalton and Drighlington 
 District" has for its object to raise a fund " to insure a sum of money 
 to be paid to the members who may be duly authorized by the dis- 
 trict board of directors to strike or cease work to obtain any just 
 and reasonable advance of wages for the labour of the members, and 
 to such as may be thrown out of employment or victimized for taking 
 au active part, or in any way promoting the welfare of this Associa- 
 tion, and to prevent all other encroachments upon the rights of the 
 members." The district board of directors has " power to authorize 
 any number of members to strike or cease work for any of the objects 
 named," to " equalize and diminish the labours of the members," to 
 " send a deputation to the conference of any trades' union or else- 
 where when deemed advisable." In authorizing a strike, they are 
 "at the same time" to "lay an additional levy" on all the members, "to 
 such an amount as will pay one-fourth of the expenses of the strike 
 for the first three months, and half of the expenses for the second 
 three months, and so on afterwards." No colliery or lodge is to " be 
 allowed to strike or cease work, except to prevent a reduction of 
 wages, until the same shall have been joined to this Association for 
 at least three months." If any colliery persists in not complying 
 with the resolutions of the district meeting after written warning 
 from the district secretary, "they shall be dealt with as the district 
 board of directors think proper." The Association " will not support 
 or defend any of its members who shall violate the laws of his 
 country, unless he can give undeniable satisfaction to the district 
 board of directors that he is not in the wrong according to the rules 
 and regulations of this Association." No colliery or lodge is to " be 
 allowed to strike or cease work on any account except by order of 
 the district board of directors." " No miner or bywork man who 
 is not joined to this Association shall be allowed to work in any of 
 the collieries which may from time to time be joined to this Associa- 
 
140 Report on 
 
 tion." Men wishing to remove from one colliery to another are 
 required to have clearances. 
 
 In plainly and openly setting up its own regulations above the law 
 of the land, this body goes greater lengths than any whose rules have 
 come before us. 
 
 The " General Laws for the Government of the Miners' Associa- 
 tion, Barnsley District," were revised February 13th, 1860; the pre- 
 face, borrowed from that of the rules of the projected "Miners' Associ- 
 ation of the United Kingdom " before mentioned, declares it " abso- 
 lutely necessary that a firm compact of interests should exist between 
 the whole of the miners of the United Kingdom." The objects of 
 the Society are, " the receiving a proper remuneration for labour, and 
 providing an allowance on the death of its members." The members 
 are divided into two classes, "9rf. per fortnight of the first class, 4|rf. 
 of the second class, together with the whole of the levies, and three- 
 fourths of the entrance fees," form a " labour-defence and funeral 
 fund," which is applied "to liquidate all expenses resulting from lock- 
 outs and strikes, to the support of victims, paying delegates' wages, 
 and all other general and local necessary expenses that may be sanc- 
 tioned and approved of by the delegate meeting." The remaining one- 
 fourth of the entrance fees, with "Zd. per fortnight per full member," 
 and "1|(/. per fortnight per half member" — it is supposed, the same 
 as members of the first and second class respectively — form an "acci- 
 dent fund, for the relief of members incapacitated from following 
 their employment by accident while at work in or about any colliery 
 or iron-stone mine ; but no member is allowed to contribute to the 
 latter fund alone ; "grievances," and "the names of all persons vic- 
 timized" are to be immediately reported by the " local secretaries of 
 lodges" to the district secretary, — no member being "eligible to receive- 
 relief as a victim" till returned as such by his own lodge, and till ap- 
 proval of the return by the delegates. In the event of any dispute 
 with an employer, the lodge is to meet to devise means for a settle- 
 ment; but "no document or other agreement in writing" is to be- 
 presented to employers or their agents till examined by the district 
 secretary or other persons duly appointed, with certain provisions for 
 its revision. No lodge is to strike or leave employment without the 
 sanction of the delegate meeting, which fixes the allowance to lock- 
 outs or members on strike, but will not give "relief or redress" to 
 any lodge except upon having before it a correct list of the members 
 of such lodge, distinguishing the "financial" and "unfinancial mem- 
 bers," and the amount of arrears due by each. 
 
 " Special rules, adapted to the peculiar circumstances of each col- 
 liery, must be drawn up by every lodge ; such special rules to be in 
 strict conformity with the general rules." 
 
 The number of members in the Barnsley District, according to the 
 fortnightly balance-sheet for June 18, 1860, was 4,094; the total 
 income for the fortnight £238 17*. 10|rf.; the total expenditure 
 £217 17*. 4c?.; the balance in hand £78 14s. \d. 
 
Trades' Societies' Rules. 
 
 141 
 
 (I.) SOCIETIES AND UNIONS MAINLY FOR TRADE PURPOSES. 
 
 Date 
 of 
 Insti- 
 tution 
 
 Sphere 
 
 of 
 Action. 
 
 CONTBIBUTIONS. 
 
 En- 
 trance. 
 
 Weekly. 
 
 Allowances. 
 
 On 
 
 Strike 
 per week 
 
 1. Power-loom 
 
 "Weavers. .. . 
 
 2. Carvers and 
 
 Gildere 
 
 3. Carpenters & 
 
 Joiners » . . . 
 
 4. Chain&Trace ) 
 
 Makers .... J 
 
 5. Coopers 
 
 Lancashire.. 
 Edinburgh . . 
 
 Manchester 
 ( Cradley,^ 
 
 i head- \ 
 ^_ quarters y 
 
 U. K 
 
 fi. Carters and 
 Storemen . . 
 
 7. Lithographers 
 
 2j. 6d. 
 
 •■{ 
 
 2s. M. 
 
 Id. 
 Id. 
 
 %d.\ 3d. 
 
 women 
 
 & chin. 
 
 \d. 
 
 lOi.p.w 
 
 6d. each 
 
 child. 
 
 105. 
 
 Liverpool 
 
 I 8. Painters 
 
 10. ShippingTrades 
 
 11. Tailors 
 
 12. Typographera. 
 
 Liverpool . 
 
 Glasgow 
 
 2s. 6(f. 
 
 1851 
 
 1850 
 
 Liverpool . 
 
 Liverpool 
 England .... 
 
 6(2. 
 Is. to 2 
 6(2., af 
 
 fUndsare 
 leas or 
 greater, 
 
 14s. for 4 
 weeks. 
 
 10s. for 4 
 weeks 
 longer, 
 
 5s. after 
 that. 
 
 7s., 2s, 
 for wife, 
 Is. each 
 
 child. 
 
 Id. 
 2d. 
 
 £5 
 
 as below 
 
 £lfor 
 tramps ; 
 10s. p.w. 
 for4wk3, 
 whenout 
 of em- 
 ploy, 7s. 
 6d. for 
 next 4 
 weeks. 
 
 3 weeks' 
 aliment 
 
 inad- 
 vancelbr 
 
 those 
 who are 
 wellwho 
 
 wiU 
 
 search 
 
 for 
 employ. 
 
 Committee to have 
 power to raise 
 the weekly con- 
 tribution to Gd. 
 if a struggle con- 
 tinues. 
 
 Should the funds 
 be reduced below 
 .£350, committee 
 empowered to 
 assess the mem- 
 bers. 
 
 Committee to 
 recommend ad- 
 ditional contri- 
 butions to gene- 
 ral meeting. 
 
 To meet the neces- 
 sary expenses a 
 levy shall occa- 
 sionally be made 
 on each Society, 
 and no ftirther 
 call be made till 
 that levy be ex- 
 hausted. 
 
142 
 
 Report on 
 
 
 Date 
 
 of 
 Insti- 
 tution 
 
 Sphere 
 
 CONTEIBUTIONS. 
 
 Allowances. 
 
 
 TRADE. 
 
 of 
 Action. 
 
 En- 
 ti-ance. 
 
 Weelily 
 
 On 
 
 Strike 
 
 Funeral 
 
 Other. 
 
 KEMAEKS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 per week 
 
 
 
 
 13. Typograpliers . 
 
 1821 
 
 Liveiiiool .. 
 
 6sitol0s 
 or such 
 sum as 
 commit- 
 tee de- 
 termines 
 
 M.toSd 
 accord- 
 ing to 
 wages, 
 
 from 10s 
 to 30s. 
 
 For 9 
 wks }ths 
 ofwages 
 for next 
 9 *, after 
 Jrd. 
 
 £3to£lt 
 
 Allow- 
 ances tc 
 trav'lers 
 Sitramp. 
 from 6s. 
 
 to 4:0s. 
 
 
 14. Tailors 
 
 1849 
 
 Glasgow . . 
 
 is. id. 
 
 Id. 
 
 12s. 
 
 
 Travel - 
 money to 
 those on 
 strike in 
 search ol 
 employ. 
 
 
 15. Bakers 
 
 
 Scotland., j 
 Glasgow.. . . 
 
 Is. 6(2. to 
 10s 
 
 1 2d. 
 2Jrf. 
 
 
 £5 
 
 
 
 16. Coopers 
 
 1861 
 
 \s. id. 
 
 Ms. 
 
 i£3,&£2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 for wife 
 
 
 
 17. Ship-joiners.. 
 
 1853 
 
 Livei^ool . . 
 
 £i 
 
 Id!. 
 
 36s. 
 
 
 
 General meetings 
 to levy rates. 
 
 18. House Carpen- 
 ters & Joiners 
 
 |l827 
 
 U.K 1 
 
 Optional 
 each 
 
 with 
 lodge. 
 
 ]•• 
 
 ■• 
 
 
 The society is an 
 Association of 
 Lodges with 
 their separate 
 Eules. 
 
 19. Clotli-lappers . 
 
 
 Glasgow . . 
 
 6i. 
 
 Id. 
 
 2-thiras 
 
 of wages 
 
 for 12 
 
 weeks. 
 
 £5 
 
 Out of 
 work 7s. 
 p. w. for 
 8 weeks, 
 
 5s. for 
 next 8, 
 
 3s. for 
 next 8. 
 
 
 20. Brictlayera . . 
 
 
 E. and "W. . . 
 
 10s. 6d. 
 
 lid. 
 
 12s. 
 
 
 Current 
 
 rate of 
 
 wages to 
 
 those 
 
 disehd. 
 onaccnt. 
 of their 
 
 connec- 
 tionwith 
 
 Union. 
 
 Committee of ma- 
 nagement to 
 have a fund of 
 £250, which is 
 to be renewed 
 by weekly sub- 
 scriptions. 
 
 21. Typograpliers . 
 
 
 New Orleans 
 
 3 dollars 
 
 124cents 
 
 8 dols. if 
 married, 
 6 dols. if 
 
 60 dols. 
 
 
 
 22. Machine 
 
 
 
 
 
 single. 
 
 
 
 
 Workers 
 
 1844 
 
 E 
 
 6s. 
 
 id. 
 
 7s. for 6 
 weeks 
 
 n every 
 three 
 
 months. 
 
 
 
 
 23. Joiners 
 
 " 
 
 Glasgow 
 ftW.of 
 Scotland 
 
 Member 
 time to 
 deter 
 
 s from 
 time to 
 mine. 
 
 Full 
 amount 
 
 of wages 
 
 
 
 
 24. Factory opera- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 tives 
 
 1860 
 
 Coventry . . 
 
 
 Id. 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 
 Special levies for 
 
 25. Seamen's Pro- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 strikes. 
 
 tection Society 
 
 1861 
 
 U. K 
 
 10s. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 26. Seamen 
 
 
 Sunderland . 
 
 15s. 
 
 
 10s. 
 
 £2 
 
 
 £1 in case of ship- 
 wreck ; Is. per 
 annumfrom each ' 
 member to esta- 
 blish alife-boat. 
 
 27. Slaters 
 
 1862 
 
 Glasgow 
 
 £2 
 
 id. from 
 
 Is. Sd. 
 
 £5; 
 
 Accidnt, 
 
 Connected with 
 
 
 
 
 
 1st Mrch 
 
 per day. 
 
 £3 for 
 
 6s. per 
 
 District Socie- 
 
 
 
 
 
 to 30th 
 
 
 mem- 
 
 week for 
 
 ties. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nov.; 2d 
 
 
 ber's 
 
 1 year. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 from 30 
 
 
 wife. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nov. to 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 March 1 
 3 in cer- 
 
 
 
 
 
 Reducibl 
 
 
 
 
 tain 
 
 :ases. 
 
 
 
 
 
Traded Societies' Rules, 
 
 143 
 
 Date 
 
 of 
 Insti- 
 tution 
 
 Spliere 
 
 of 
 Action. 
 
 Contributions. 
 
 En- 
 trance. 
 
 Weekly. 
 
 On 
 
 Strike 
 
 per week 
 
 Allowances. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 28. Miners 
 
 29. Miners, Salt-^ 
 makers [and V 
 Boatmen] . . J 
 
 31. Watchmakers 
 
 32. Railway Spring 
 Makers . . 
 
 5. Ovenmenand) 
 Kilnmen . . ) 
 
 34. Spring Makers 
 
 35. Watchmakers. 
 
 36. Brass Founders 
 
 37. Flat Pressers. 
 
 88. HoUowwEire- 
 
 I pressors .... 
 39. Lacemakers .. 
 
 /Adwalton 
 andDrigh- 
 I lington 
 UTorksh.) 
 /^Lancash.A 
 < and > 
 V Cheshire J 
 
 Bamsley 
 
 Coventry 
 
 U.K. 
 
 lOs. ; 
 boys 
 6d. 
 
 10s. 1st 
 class, 55, 
 2nd do. 
 
 £1 
 
 6d. ; 
 2d. told. 
 
 Id. fort- 
 nightly. 
 
 6d. 1st 
 class, 3d. 
 2nd do. 
 
 Burslem . 
 Sheffield . 
 Coventry . 
 Edinburgh . . 
 
 Hanley .... 
 
 Nottingham 
 
 Com. to 
 
 decide. 
 
 Id. 
 
 Contribu tions to 
 be fixed by 
 branch societies 
 
 the 
 Is. 
 
 75.; 
 3s6dtol. 
 
 Fixed by 
 delegate 
 meeting. 
 
 for wife, 
 
 Is. for 
 
 each 
 
 child. 
 
 ditto. 
 
 ditto. 
 
 Com. to 
 decide, 
 £2 8s. 
 
 once in 6 
 
 months. 
 10s.; 
 
 wife -25., 
 children 
 
 Is. each. 
 
 }■■ 
 
 se8ist 
 
 class, ^£4 
 second, 
 
 Accidnt, 
 fixed by 
 
 each 
 colliery. 
 
 ^Additional levies 
 J for strikes; anas- 
 \ sociation of col- 
 
 l,lieries or lodges, 
 
 A "County or Agi- 
 tation Fund," 2 
 " Counties " di 
 vided intb"Dis 
 tricts " Special 
 levies for strikes, 
 
 2 Funds : "Labour- 
 defence and Fu- 
 neral", and "Ac- 
 cident," an Asso- 
 ciation of Col- 
 lieries &Lodges, 
 Special levies if 
 required. 
 
 Conti-ibutions fixed 
 from time to 
 time by Society. 
 
 Contributions fixed 
 by Council froih 
 time to time. 
 
P5 
 O 
 
 P 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 U 
 
 s 
 
 4 
 
 •a3[IJ4S no 
 
 Per Week. 
 10s. to man, 
 3s. to wife, 
 Is. for each 
 child under 
 12. 
 
 10s., 2s. to 
 
 ■wife. Is. fur 
 
 each child 
 
 under 12. 
 
 14s., 2s. to 
 wife. 
 
 12s. 
 
 16s. for 6 
 
 months, IDs. 
 
 for next 6 
 
 months. 
 
 • not^j-Biinumadns 
 
 . ^ J? i.'S ^- * * ,r •.' «> 
 
 p;"2 s s '^ 
 
 •5[J0Ai 
 
 JO ^UTJ^Vi. 
 
 rer Wk. 
 
 36s. to 
 
 21s. 
 down. 
 8s., 2s. 
 to ■wife 
 
 for 4 
 ■weeks. 
 
 7s. for 4 
 ■weeks 
 once In 
 
 6 weeks. 
 
 IDs. 
 
 10s. for 4 
 months, 
 8s. for 4 
 6s. for 8 
 
 ■dUIBJX 
 
 Is. 6d. 
 and bed. 
 
 7s. 
 
 Id. per 
 mile. 
 
 Travling 
 expenses 
 
 for emi- 
 
 •fEuannj 
 
 
 "juappay 
 
 ^ : : : : ^ . '. 
 
 ■ss3u:ioiS 
 
 Per Week. 
 
 Eight to ft 
 petition. 
 
 5s. for three 
 monthri. 
 
 8s, for six 
 weeks once in 
 six months. 
 
 10s. for 12 
 weeks, 65. for 
 
 12 weeks, & 
 
 4s. after. 
 8s.forl3wks. 
 
 6s. for next 
 13, 4s. after. 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 When funds re- 
 duced to ^£20 a 
 levy of 2(i,, and 
 when under £10 
 a levy of 6d. 
 
 Gd. levied for 
 funerals, 6d. a 
 month for Emi- 
 gration Fund. 
 
 '2d. towards eacli 
 ftmeral; special 
 levies to be laid 
 to supply defi- 
 ciencies. 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 D 
 
 n 
 
 H 
 
 IS 
 
 P. 
 
 ■TOOI 
 
 
 01 
 
 ^ 1 5 : : : : : : 
 
 ■s8sod.ind 
 apxux JOJ 
 pun.i 01 
 
 
 •punjt 
 
 JUauaa 
 
 ox 
 
 : : : : : S S" = 
 
 •oouBJjug 
 
 -* «o t' 
 
 ■uoissiuipy 
 JO aSy JO s;iuin 
 
 23-50 
 
 20-60 
 
 20-60 
 60 
 
 •aiaqrasK JO I9qninj|5: 
 
 S3. . . . . 
 
 o_ to . . . . . 
 
 -S9iionuia: JO jaqrauii 
 
 o • . • • • . 
 
 •uoI:^oy 
 JO aaauds 
 
 U.K 
 
 London . , , . 
 Liverpool . . 
 
 Glasgow. . . . 
 Livei-pool .. 
 
 England .... 
 Glasgow . . 
 
 U.K 
 
 ■nonn^T^sui JO g^^a 
 
 1834 
 
 1860 
 1846 
 
 1833 
 1822 
 
 1 
 
 1. Coachmafcers 
 
 2. Bookbinders. 
 
 3. Upholsterers 
 
 4. Tin-plate 
 
 Workers . . 
 
 6. Plumbers . . 
 
 6. Smiths .... 
 
 T. Tailors 
 
 8. Flint Glass 
 Makers . . 
 
h3 S< m 
 
 SaS^ S 
 
 CH O 'o "C 
 
 Bm 
 
 si Sals' ra'S 
 
 "^1 
 
 "5 S *^ 
 
 <?5 : 
 
 ; 
 
 
 
 10s. for 6 
 
 months, 
 
 6s. for 6 
 
 ditto. 
 
 -S^ 
 
 
 
 'hI'^ 
 
 
 
 t« Q> °* 
 
 * a ^s '^ . 
 
 . 2 o B >i a 
 
 <o R O V <U O 
 
 
 o 
 
 13 ■* 
 
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 5 
 
 
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 lo 
 
 
 
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 1=1 
 
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 fi 
 
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 ■* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 2 
 
 
 B 
 
 ,w 
 
 
 Sss 
 
 
 E 
 
 h^E^H 
 
 
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 6 
 
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 I— ' 
 
 '-' 
 
 
 
ACCOUNT 
 
 OP THE 
 
 CHAIN MAKEES^ STRIKE, 
 
 IN 1859-60. 
 
 PREPARED FOR 
 
 STije Wational aggncifftion far tfjf pr0mati0tt at Sotial Science, 
 
 AT THE EEQTJEST OF THE COMMITTEE ON TEADEs' SOCIETIES. 
 
 By GODFREY LUSHINGTON, 
 
 BARRISTER-AT-LAW. 
 
 [The materials for this account have been derived mainly from the 
 Operative Chain Makers' Journal, and from letters of both masters and 
 men extracted from the newspapers. At the end is printed at full 
 length the answers by a master to the questions submitted to him.l 
 
 The United Kingdom with its vast mercantile marine necessarily 
 supports a large number of chain makers. There are considerable 
 factories of chain both in Wales and Scotland (in Glasgow); but the 
 two principal seats of manufacture are in the Midland Counties and 
 in Northumberland. In the Midland Counties there are factories at 
 Chester, Cradley, Walsall, Dudley, Wolverhampton, and other places, 
 and the operatives number nearly 3000, but they are not a thriving 
 community : they work at lower wages and produce an inferior kind 
 of chain as compared with the operatives in the North; also (whether 
 or not this is the cause of their lower position) for some years, pre- 
 vious to last year, they have not been combined, except in local clubs. 
 The Newcastle chain makers on the other hand are more flourishing ; 
 they make the best chains, and receive the best wages ; and they have 
 a strong and highly organized Union. Of this organization, however, 
 no particulars have been furnished us beyond the fact that the sub- 
 scriptions of members are Sd. per head weekly, that the monthly income 
 and expenditure amount usually to about £30, and that each of the 
 local secretaries receives 2s. per man per quarter, paid out of the 
 subscriptions of his own locality ; thus the remuneration of each 
 varies in proportion to the duties he has to discharge. This 
 Union has established a monthly periodical, called The Chain Makers' 
 Journal and Trades' Circular, of which 500 to 1,100 copies are 
 printed. It has been thought advisable to append to this Report an 
 abstract of a single number as a specimen. Some remarks, however, 
 upon this organ of the operatives may here not be out of place. The 
 one bad feature in it is, that it contains a list of the non-union men 
 in the trade, preceded by the following observations : 
 
 L 2 
 
148 Account of the 
 
 " The great regard these men have for their own interests, and those of their 
 families, prevents their paying Zd. per week for the purpose of improving the 
 position of the trade. They cannot see any benefit derived from union. In this 
 free land, we are proud that every man can do as he likes, bo long as he does not 
 injure his neighbour, but their conduct will be long remembered." 
 
 The publication of this list must be regarded as a blot upon the 
 Journal. It is true it does not advocate violence ; but it can serve 
 no practical purpose but a bad one ; it is a social proscription or 
 excommunication list; and as such, especially as it is addressed to an 
 uneducated class of men, must have indirectly encouraged that feeling 
 which broke out into the criminal and malicious outrages that dis- 
 graced the strike of the chain makers. It is also injurious to the 
 cause it is meant to serve ; for it is an impediment to the recognition 
 of the principle of trades' unions, which have to overcome the im- 
 pression, more or less unjustly prevailing amongst masters and the 
 public at large, that men join them chiefly under coercion. 
 
 In all other respects the Journal seems just what it ought to be. 
 The contents are generally as follows : a leading article relative to the 
 chain trade, either upon some standing characteristic of it, or upon any 
 late occurrence of importance, especially anything in the nature of a 
 strike ; an account of the regular council meetings or of any general 
 meeting of the Union in the North ; the accounts of the Society, 
 showing the monthly income and expenditure ; the statistics of the 
 labour in the chain trade of the North (supplied by the operatives 
 themselves, but which the Journal invites the masters to correct), 
 specifying the number of days of employment actually had by the 
 various classes of chain makers at the various factories during the 
 past month ; the monthly export of anchors and chains from Newcastle- 
 upon-Tyne averaging over 100 tons ; news of the chain trade in the 
 South ; announcement of all strikes in distant parts, operating as a 
 warning to unionists to take no engagement there until the strike is 
 over; the prices of the iron market; winding up with a general article 
 exhibiting the state of industry and commerce throughout the United 
 Kingdom. 
 
 Such a Journal, it is clear, must be of great service, not only to 
 the operatives, to whom especially it is dedicated, but indirectly to the 
 whole community. It supplies to the workman the statistics of his 
 trade. It is the ignorance of these that causes him either to demand 
 or to submit to unjust terms at the hands of his employer ; it is the 
 knowledge of these that directs him where to go in search of employ- 
 ment, and, more than anything else, helps to expedite the proper 
 operation of the law of political economy, which would make the wages 
 for the same work everywhere equal. The social importance of the 
 Journal consists in this, that it binds together into one community 
 operatives who before stood isolated in local sections, or as mere 
 individuals, and that it opens and circulates amongst them broad and 
 intelligent views of their position, their relation to each other, to 
 their masters, and to other trades. 
 
 As one proof of this, it might be pointed out that whilst the Jour- 
 
Chain Makers'' Strike. 149 
 
 nal avowedly adopts the cause of the operatives against the masters, it 
 did not hesitate to condemn as foolish the strike of the shoemakers 
 in the Midland Counties against the introduction of machinery. But 
 the strongest proof is, that the Newcastle chain makers, whilst flou- 
 rishing themselves, on hearing that their brother chain makers in the 
 Midland Counties, with whom they were not connected otherwise 
 than as working the same trade, were depressed in circumstances, 
 voluntarily resolved to send a mission to inquire and report, with a 
 view to ascertain whether any steps could be taken for their assist- 
 ance. Accordingly, on the 10th of April^ 1859, the deputation left 
 Newcastle, visited and held meetings at Cradley Heath, the Lye, the 
 Lye Waste, Dudley, Stourbridge; thence went on to Newbridge, in 
 Wales ; returning northwards, stopped at Liverpool, thence proceeded 
 to Glasgow, and finally returned to Newcastle, after an absence of 
 nearly three weeks. The deputies had their expenses paid by the 
 Newcastle Union, and refused remuneration from those whom they 
 visited. The report which they brought home specified four evils 
 as requiring immediate remedy. These were : — 
 
 1. Employment of women in chain making. 
 
 2. Long day's work. 
 
 3. Manufacture of inferior chain. 
 
 4. Want of a general union amongst chain makers. 
 
 The first of these evils it does not appear that any step was taken 
 to remedy beyond the protest in the report itself. The second was 
 made the subject of a leading article in the Journal for August, which 
 contained the scale of day's work [inserted in Appendix I.] that had 
 been acted upon by the men of one factory at Gateshead (Messrs. 
 Abbot and Co.) for many years, accompanied by an earnest request 
 that the same should be adopted in all the factories in the north of 
 England absolutely, and in the south with as little modification as 
 might be necessary. It is to be regretted that this scale does not ex- 
 hibit, except to those conversant with the trade, the number of hours' 
 work in the day. The third evil mentioned in the report was the 
 manufacture of inferior chain. This also was made the subject of 
 a leading article in a subsequent number of the Journal, and also led 
 to the circulation of the following address. 
 
 " To the Directors of Marine Assurance Associations, Merchants, Shipowners, 
 Captains, ^c. 
 
 " Gentlemen, — ^Everything relating to the safety of shipping must be deeply inte- 
 Testing to you, in consequence of your capital being invested in the trade. We 
 therefore submit the following to your consideration, being persuaded that your 
 profits are materially diminished by the losses of ships at sea, which often occur 
 from the want of due attention to the quality of the cables and other chains that 
 are used. 
 
 " As practical workmen daily occupied in the manufacture of chains, wehave 
 been made painfully aware, duiing the past few years, of the great increase in the 
 manufacture of inferior cables and topsail sheet chains, in many parts of the 
 kingdom ; thus proving that their use is not alone confined to the fitting out of 
 vessels in England, but that large quantities are also exported to all the principal 
 Bhipping harbours of the world. The consequence is, that ships constructed with 
 all the improvements that mechanical science can devise, and laden with valuable 
 
150 Account of the 
 
 CM'goes, are often totally lost from the insufficleacy and inferiority of their cables 
 and other chains. Men's lives are sacrificed, merchants sustain severe losses, 
 marine insurance societies have their profits diminished, and a portion of the 
 wealth of the nation is annually destroyed by the continued use of bad chains. 
 
 "This evil has of late so much increased, that it is gradually becoming more 
 difficult for the honest manufacturer, who employs firstrate workmen, and uses 
 a good quality of iron in the manufacture of his chains, to bear up against the 
 unprincipled trader, who supplies a valueless article at cheaper rates and upon 
 false representations. It is not at all an uncommon practice for dealers in chain 
 to give certificates to the buyer to the effect, that the article supplied has been 
 properly proved, when in reality, although it has gone through the machine, yet 
 the proper weight has not been put upon it. In many chain works, when the 
 buyer is determined that the chaui purchased shall bear the Admiralty weight, an 
 additional sum beyond the regnlar j)rice is paid to the worlanan ; thus proving 
 that it is an uncommon practice for them to prove their chain according to Admi- 
 ralty weight. 
 
 "Fi'om inquiries recently made at the Liverpool public test, it was ascertained 
 that, a short time ago, some captains (who during their voyages had lost their 
 anchors) , with a view to know whether their cables were reliable or not, brought 
 them to the machine, when they broke to pieces with several tons less weight 
 than they ought to have borne. In some chain works, a certain description, named 
 by the workmen 'boiler chain,' is made in large quantities, the agreement 
 between the employer and the workmen being, that it is neither to be examined 
 nor proved, but taken from the ' block' of the workmen to the 'boiler,' where 
 it is coated with tar, and sent into the market utterly valueless for any pui-pose 
 for which chain ought to be used. 
 
 " Instead of receiving assurance upon trust, merchants should be thoroughly 
 satisfied that the chains which they purchase are proved in a proper manner, as 
 not one-half of those represented to be so, really are ; and marine insurance 
 societies should decidedly refuse to insure either ships or cargoes "n-ithout the 
 owner of the vessel can produce a proper certificate that his chains have been 
 properly proved. 
 
 " For the greater security of shipping property, it has become an absolute 
 necessity that, in all large ports, a public test should be erected, and a duly 
 qualified inspector appointed to take charge of the machine. 
 
 " We have been emboldened to send these circulars to those interested in the 
 matter in every large shipping port in the kingdom, and also to the principal 
 harbours abroad, because we are firmly convinced, from our practical knowledge, 
 that if such steps as we have suggested be acted upon, they would be found very 
 materially to diminish casualties at sea. 
 
 "Signed on behalf of the Operative Chain Makers of England, Scotland, and 
 "Wales. 
 
 " Chakles Blake. 
 
 " 105, Iley Gate, Gateshead, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 
 "/tmeSrtf, 1859." 
 
 This address is only one more instance of the thousand ways in 
 which the interests of the community are bound to the welfare of the 
 operatives. The manufacture of inferior chain is ruinous to the 
 shipowners who purchase it, but it also lowers the wages and injures 
 the moral character of the operatives who make it, for the workman 
 should have respect for his work. The employer Avho deals most 
 fairly towards his men will be the one most likely to deal fairly 
 towards his customers. Again, this address shows how important is 
 the testimony of the operative as to the quality of the work manufac- 
 tured, because his testimony is independent. The operative has no pri- 
 ■vate interest of his own to clash with that of the public ; on the con- 
 trary, being paid by the amount and quality of the work done, he ha« 
 
Chain Makers' Strike. 151 
 
 every reason to tell the truth; the masters, on the other hand, make 
 their fortunes in bargain s with particular customers, and, though many- 
 doubtless do not yield to this temptation, have an interest in puffing 
 their own goods, and in depreciating those of their rivals. 
 
 The fourth evil mentioned in the report was the want of union 
 amongst chain makers generally. This the Newcastle Union endea- 
 voured to remedy, partly by exhortations in the Journal, partly by 
 the despatch of missions, and above all by munificent subscriptions 
 to the Staffordshire men during the strike which is about to be 
 described. 
 
 The deputation to Staffordshire found the operatives generally 
 depressed and dissatisfied, and the men of one factory at Lye actually 
 out on a strike, which had then already lasted for eight weeks. The 
 cause of this strike was as follows : About the middle of February 
 the premises of three of the workmen of the factory were entered 
 during the night, and their bellows, to the value of £25, destroyed. 
 As two of these men had not paid up their levies to the trade union, 
 and the third objected to his name being enrolled as a member, the 
 proprietors were of opinion that these acts of malice prepense had 
 been committed at the instigation of the Union. The manager of 
 the Chain Makers' Union solemnly denied that they had been done at 
 the instigation either of himself or, so far a« he knew, of any member 
 of the Union. Nevertheless, the proprietors required the damage to 
 be made good by those of their workmen who belonged to the 
 Union, and also proposed to form a guarantee fund to renew the 
 bellows of any non-unionist workman which might be destroyed, by 
 levying a tax upon every bundle of iron served out to the unionist 
 workmen. A strike was the consequence. The precise cause 
 remains in uncertainty : the employers state that they would not 
 have insisted upon the tax, but that their men, compelled by their 
 union, refused to make good the actual damage done : the manager 
 of the Union, on the other hand, declares that the men were quite 
 ready to make indemnification for the past, but that the tax for 
 the future was equally insisted upon, and to this the men would not 
 submit. It also appears that the men of this factory were generally 
 dissatisfied with their employers, on the alleged ground that deduc- 
 tions were improperly made from their wages in the shape of charges, 
 fines, &c. However that may be, on the 21st of February, 1859, 
 the men struck, in number from fifty to one hundred. Besides 
 the support that they received from their own Union, the chain 
 makers in the North, at a council meeting held at Newcastle on 
 May 9th, resolved to contribute for them £5 per week so long 
 as the strike should last, and at another meeting, held on May 
 28th, it was resolved that the £5 should be increased to £10. The 
 strike continued till some time in the month of July, when thfe 
 workmen it appears were taken back unconditionally. 
 
 This strike, however, was but in the nature of a private dispute, 
 of which there were others in the district. Thus, at anottier 
 fectory men had been out on strike for four weeks in May and 
 
152 Account of the 
 
 June, on the ground that the proprietor of it had supplied the 
 firm before mentioned with chain whilst their men were on strike. 
 So, too, the tax for carriage of the iron imposed by the masters 
 gave some discontent, and led to a resolution, passed at a general 
 meeting held at Cradley on the 20th of June, that no master 
 should be allowed to charge carriage for either iron or work, 
 and that if any man allowed any master carriage, or in any other 
 way submitted to a reduction, he should pay a fine of \0s. But 
 the cause of the universal dissatisfaction throughout the Midland 
 Counties was the low rate of wages ; this led to the strike about 
 to be narrated. But before entering upon the strike itself, it may 
 be well by way of introduction to say a few words concerning the 
 general character of the service of chain making, and the history for 
 some years previous of the trade in the Midland Counties. Chain 
 makers are hired on the condition that either party, master or man, 
 if he wishes to determine the service, shall give a fortnight's notice. 
 The master provides the man with material, iron; the man finds his 
 own tools and firing, and sometimes has to pay a trifle for the car- 
 riage of the iron to and from the workshop. The system is one of 
 piecework, the payment being so much per cwt. of chain manufac- 
 tured ; the master is bound to supply work if he has it, but not 
 otherwise ; the man to do the work supplied to him, but if unavoid- 
 ably left idle by his master, he is not at liberty, or is not accustomed 
 (for on this point there seems to be some conflict of opinion), to work 
 for another master. G-enerally, it may be said that there are three 
 kinds of chain made, viz., half-inch chain; chain smaller than half an 
 inch, various kinds, called cowhands, traces, American swimmers, &c. 
 which women and boys are able to manufacture; and chain larger 
 than half an inch, which requires workmen of considerable strength. 
 
 The payment for the half-inch chain is the standard of the pay- 
 ment for other chains, which is in proportion to their size, higher or 
 lower, being adjusted according to a regular scale. Thus, if the 
 payment for the half-inch chain be for the time 4*. per. cwt., prices 
 are said to be according to the 4«. list, if 5s. by the 5s, list, and so on. 
 
 With regard to the position of the chain makers in Staffordshire, 
 the master states that " the smaller manufacturers have, since the 
 breaking' up of the Union, oppressed the men in their employ, and 
 reduced the scale of wages to a very low figure. The men do not 
 work in bodies, but have shops attached to their cottages, in which 
 themselves and families work, and I do not think that they could pro- 
 tect themselves without combination ; but men working in factories 
 in large bodies can always secure a fair rate of wages without being 
 society-men." But, on the other hand, the following account is given 
 by Mr. Noah Forrest, a person connected with the operatives of the 
 trade. 
 
 " In 1844 our average net wages were about 10*. per week for men, and for 
 wtmen and boys about half that sum. These wages were paid in cash at about 
 half the warehouses in this locality, and the other half paid in goods charged 
 at exorbitantly high prices ; and the ready-money masters said they must re- 
 duce our wages, unless the trucksters were stopped paying in goods. The men 
 
Chain Makers' Strike. 153 
 
 were not united, but were blaming, and in many places cursing each other for 
 bringing the trade into such a miserable condition. This state of things had 
 existed for a considerable length of time, and both masters and men seemed tired 
 of it. A few of the more intelligent of the men met, and consulted together as to 
 what course could be taken to improve the condition of the trade. It was agreed 
 that a general meeting of the trade should be called, and that meeting agreed 
 to attempt to put down truck. The course taken to effect this was to notice the 
 principal truckster that in fourteen days from the date of the notice the men would 
 cease to accept truck for their work. He would not at first consent to pay cash, 
 and the men ceased to work for him till he expressed his intention to do so, which 
 was at the end of the fifteenth week after the notice had been given, and the men 
 were supported by a levy raised by the men at work. The next principal truck- 
 ster was then noticed, and the men supported in the same way and with the same 
 result, until all truck was abolished as far as chain makers were concerned, nor 
 has the system been reimposed to this ddy. After this, an inquiry was instituted 
 into the prices paid by the various firms. The firm that paid the lowest price 
 was noticed as above stated, and the men supported as before, and so effectual 
 was this course that within three years our wages were more than double what 
 they had been before the men were united. The steady and industrious in the 
 trade were comfortably off, and some families which were very favourably situated 
 laid by money, &o., which has kept them above want in the less propitious times 
 which have since intervened, whilst the spendthrifts of course acted as spend- 
 thrifts always do — the more they earned, the more they drank. Many in the 
 trade seemed to forget what they had endured, and said there was no need of any 
 money being paid, and they ceased to pay accordingly, which, as might be ex- 
 pected, caused others to cease. I had done a great part of the business of the 
 Union for seven years, and warned them often as to what would overtake them, 
 but they heeded not, and I left them, resolving never more to trouble myself 
 with Union. But soon after 1854 the prices went down to as low a point as in 
 1844. The men made several attempts to get united, but soon failed. They 
 invited me again and again to take the management, but I told them it would 
 not suit me. The men became worse and worse off. 
 
 " In 1858 we were so unhappy that in June an attempt was made to form a 
 Union. I advised the men to get Mr. Homer to manage, and promised to assist 
 them. We partially succeeded, but by the end of October in the same year lost 
 what we had gained a few months before. In November a successful attempt 
 to regain it was made, but even with that advance our net wages were not more 
 than half what they had been in 1847. 
 
 "This being the case, and the men being generally united, it was determined to 
 take the first favourable opportunity to get another advance. In 1858, an opinion 
 that such an opportunity had then arrived became prevalent in our ranks, but 
 Mr. Homer and myself (Mr. Forrest) thought there was not sufficient demand, 
 and the men were prevailed on to wait a few weeks. In July, 1859, one of 
 our principal employers told us that we ought to have the 5«. list, and that if 
 we would make a general demand for it, he would give it to his men to begin 
 with. The same gentleman had on a former occasion induced us to ask for an 
 advance, which we obtained. The time of the year also was favourable ; on the 
 one hand, there was for the men reaping and other harvest work to be done ; hop- 
 picking season was approaching ; on the other, the masters would receive shortly 
 the usual autumnal orders from America, and might expect a better demand on 
 the Continent in consequence of the recent peace. Thus any advance asked im- 
 mediately would damage the masters much less than if it were asked when their 
 hands might be full of orders taken at a less rate. The men therefore determined 
 to make the attempt." 
 
 Accordingly, a general meeting was held at Dudley on July 18, 
 1859, at which were present deputies from factories at the Lye, 
 Cradley, Cradley Heath, Netherton, Wolverhampton, Gould's Hill, 
 and Tipton, and the practicability considered of enforcing a rise upon 
 the As. list, under which men were then working. It was resolved 
 
154 Account of the 
 
 that " arrangements should be made as soon as possible to send in 
 notices for an advance of wages," and a committee, consisting of 
 men well acquainted with all sizes and sorts of work, were appointed 
 to revise the 5s. lists already in print, with a view to arrange on that 
 basis a complete list of prices at so much j)er cwt., without any 
 deduction for blast or iron cutting. 
 
 The result was the delivery of a written notice on July 23. On 
 previous occasions there had been some difficulty about written 
 general notices ; either those men who signed first had been held to 
 be the ringleaders, and had been supposed to have incurred the 
 special displeasure of the masters, or else some had by inadvertence 
 omitted to sign, and been prevented from taking advantage of the 
 notice. This time, therefore, the manager of the Union sent in a 
 written notice on behalf of all, to the following effect: — 
 
 " Ceadley Heath, July 23, 1859. 
 " Gentlemen, — I beg respectfully to inform you that an advance of wages will 
 be required by your factory men for all chain made by them after the 6th of 
 August next. The list of prices will be forwarded in a few days. 
 
 " Yours respectfully, 
 
 " Thoma« HOMHl. 
 " Messrs. A. and Co." 
 
 Shortly afterwards followed another letter : — 
 
 " Ceadeet Heath, 1st August, 1859. 
 " Sirs, — I beg respectfully to inform you that the following prices, without 
 deduction for blast or iron cutting, will be required by your factory men for all 
 chain made by them from 6th August inst. 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 " (Signed) Thomas Homek, Secretary ." 
 
 The list of prices is inserted in Appendix H. 
 
 On receiving this notice, the masters held a meeting, and agreed 
 neither to accept the notice nor to grant the advance. On the 6th of 
 August the men all left, except, for some reason not explained, the men 
 of one factory at Netherton. Summonses were taken out against them 
 for leaving their work without notice, at Stourbridge by two firms, 
 and at Chester by one firm alone. The masters denied that they were 
 bound to accept notice from a man who was not in their employ, 
 simply because he styled himself Secretary of the Union ; they also 
 denied that he was sufiiciently authorized by the men. The men on 
 the other hand asserted that they had given authority, that the notice 
 was good, and proved fhat a notice from the masters, if read out in 
 the factory and posted on the doors, was held binding on all, even on 
 those who had neither heard it read nor were able to read it for 
 themselves. On August 12, the Stourbridge magistrates (one of whom, 
 it is to be observed, wa« himself a chain master) declared that the 
 men were not justified in leaving their employment under the notice. 
 No sentence, however, seems to have been given, but the man, Cox 
 by name, was discharged on his own recognisances, on notice of an 
 appeal being given. The other case was heard on August 23, at 
 Hawarden, and there two men, named Eyder and Wodehouse, were 
 sentenced to be imprisoned for fourteen days, to pay costs Ss. 6rf.j 
 
Chain Makers' Strike. 155 
 
 to haTe £4 dedncted from their wages, and in defanlt to be impri- 
 soned for seven days. In both cases leave to appeal was given, and 
 accordingly a special case was laid before the Court of Queen's Bench, 
 and (to state the result before its place in order of time) on November 
 22, the following decision was given. 
 
 " In the Queen's Bench, Worcestershire. Thomas Cox appellant v. Benjamin 
 Hingley respondeat. Upon hearing counsel upon hoth sides, it is ordered that this 
 case be remitted to the justices who stated the same, with the opinion of the court 
 thereon. That the appellant was not liable to be convicted, if the said justices 
 believed that he bona fide believed that the notice in the case mentioned was a good 
 notice to determine the contract between him and the respondent, on the infor- 
 mation in this case mentioned. 
 
 " Mr. Bourn for appellant, Mr. Davis for the respondent. 
 
 "By the Court." 
 
 To return to the terms demanded by the men. 
 
 The most conflicting statements were made as to the existing rate 
 of wages, and as to the effect of the advance required. The secre- 
 tary of the Union calculated the gross wages of an half-inch chain 
 maker at 4s. per cwt., for six cwt. a full week's work, to be 24s., but 
 from this had to be deducted the interest of £5, the original outlay in 
 tools, Zs. per week for a boy to blow and dolly, 4s. for firing, and 
 \s. 6d. for carriage and repair of tools. Thus the net wages would 
 be 15s. a week ; the wages of the very numerous small chain makers 
 about 12s., those of the large chain makers, who were few in number, 
 and rarely employed above half the week, much higher; average wages 
 below 15s. The masters, on the other hand, put the wages of small 
 and half-inch chain makers from 1 5s. to 40s. per week, and those of 
 the large chain makers from £3 to £4, and stated the average to "he 
 30s. per week. 
 
 Again, the advance required was represented by the men to be 
 from 5s. to 8s. per week, by the masters to be, at aU events for the 
 large cable makers, 10s. to 12s, 
 
 The masters protested against the list offered by their men, on the 
 ground that though it purported to be a 5s. list, half-inch chain being 
 paid for at 5s. per cwt., the prices for all other chain were really accord- 
 ing to a 6s. list ; and they declared themselves ready, if the men would 
 work out a fourteen days' notice at the old prices, after that time to 
 adopt a fair 5«. list, which accordingly they issued on August 29th, and 
 which is to be found in Appendix II., placed side by side with the 
 men's list. These terms the men declined ; they would not admit 
 the notice of their secretary invalid, and they further alleged that 
 the prices proposed by the masters for all chain above half-inch was 
 below the 5s. scale, and especially that the prices for the best quali- 
 ties of chain were such that those who worked at them could not 
 make so much by from 6d. to Is. per day as those who worked at 
 common chain. 
 
 The result was that at first no master but one consented to give 
 the advance demanded by the men ; and for five weeks the strike was 
 all but general, extending to about 2000 men. After the lapse of that 
 time, the merchants who bought from the manufacturers offered to 
 
1 56 Account of the 
 
 give tlieir orders at the advanced price, and in some cases even to 
 pay the wages in advance. Many of the smaller firms and some of 
 the larger ones then received work upon the terms of the men's 
 advance list, and hy the end of the month all the masters offered to 
 do the same. In most cases these terms were acted upon, and work 
 resumed, but some difiiculties remained, especially with regard to 
 two great firms, the masters claiming that the men should work 
 out a fourteen days' notice, and refusing to comply with an alleged 
 demand of the men for the dismissal of non-unionists, or unionist 
 defaulters, the men recriminating that the masters did not ofier the 
 5s. list without deductions, and protesting that they desired the 
 dismissal only of incompetent men. Eventually, in November, after 
 a struggle of eighteen weeks, the men of the two factories belonging 
 to one of the firms at Saltney and the Lye returned to work, under 
 the condition that if the case in the Queen's Bench was decided in 
 favour of the masters, the men of the Saltney factory should for the 
 first fortnight receive only the prices under the 4s. list. The other 
 
 firm, and Sons, who had factories at two places, still held out, for 
 
 on February 20th, after a lapse of twenty-seven weeks, the men 
 returned, on the terms of working out a fortnight's notice upon the 
 prices of the old list, and then working at the men's advanced list. 
 Thus the strike ended. 
 
 This severe struggle was accompanied with more than the usual 
 acrimony. The masters impugned the honesty of the Union leaders; 
 they accused them of clamouring for a rise of wages to be given by 
 the masters in the factories, whilst they themselves sweated their 
 oWn journeymen whom they employed at home ; and of persuading 
 the men to demand disproportionately high wages for large-cable 
 making, just because they (the leaders) followed that craft them- 
 selves ; the unionist leaders recriminated, by charging the masters 
 with hatred and intentional injustice towards the men. Also fre- 
 quent acts of violence were committed during the strike by indivi- 
 dual operatives, both unionists and non-unionists. The common 
 form of this was bellows cutting, which is an easy though very 
 mean outrage. It consists in stealing by night into the shop, and 
 with a pair of scissors cutting a hole in the bellows, which are the 
 private property of the operative, who has to provide them for 
 himself whether he works at home or at the factory. In February, 
 1859, as has been stated above, the bellows of some non-unionists 
 Tvere destroyed, the first of a series of outrages in that month and 
 August : in August sixteen pairs of bellows and two horses belong- 
 ing to unionists were injured, and similar cases occurred at Dudley 
 Ward, Holly Hall, Cradley, the Lye, &c. Lately, in the present 
 month (July, I860), a conviction for bellows cutting has taken 
 place at Stafford. Nor were the outrages confined to bellows cutting. 
 There were no less than five attempts, more or less successful, to blow 
 up whole workshops in the night : in all these more serious cases, 
 and indeed in the far greater part of all the cases, the sufferers were 
 those who had incurred the enmity of the Union. The motive of 
 
Chain Makers' Strike. 157 
 
 the unionists to commit these crimes was obviously to punish all 
 schismatics against their order ; that of the non-unionists is not so 
 clear, possibly class hostility, but more probably personal retaliation. 
 The leaders of each party charged the leaders of the other party 
 with instigating these acts of violence, but the charge was never 
 substantiated, and is doubtless untrue. Still, it cannot be questioned 
 that some more active step than mere verbal repudiation could and 
 should be taken. Both parties, masters and men, unionists or non- 
 unionists, should combine to repress acts which are a dishonour to 
 the whole trade, and which injure those the most whom they are 
 intended to serve. One plan may be here suggested, to offer for 
 every conviction for bellows cutting or other trade outrage a reward 
 to be paid half by the masters, half by the Union of the district. 
 
 Sufficient information has not been received to estimate the cost 
 of this strike. For the first five weeks the strike was general, so 
 that from fifteen hundred to three thousand men were thrown out of 
 work. Then most of the masters gave in, but the two principal 
 firms held out, so that upwards of three hundred men remained for 
 many weeks on strike. To each of these were paid Is. per week ; 
 and to others, about seventy, out of employ not owing to the strike, 
 5s. This alone caused an expenditure of more than £100 per week. 
 
 To meet this large outlay, as soon as work recommenced, i.e. after 
 the first five weeks of the strike, a levy of 2s. per week was raised on 
 all in employment, a very heavy tax upon those who worked only 
 on American traces, or the very small chains, and earned little more 
 than 6s. per week. This levy raised about £80 per week for three 
 weeks ; after that it was reduced to St^. per week for three more weeks ; 
 then raised to lOaf. for one week, and since that time it has been6rf. 
 per week. The whole sums thus raised defrayed about nineteen- 
 twentieths of the total expense. The remaining one-twentieth was 
 contributed from without, in small and large sums. Amongst them 
 may be mentioned £6 5s. Sd. from the Glasgow harness makers, £30 
 from the amalgamated engineers, 3c?. weekly per man from the Stour- 
 bridge glasscutters, the same from the spademakers. But their strongest 
 friends were the chain makers in the North, allied to them not only by 
 community of calling, but by interest, for they intended, if the strike 
 in the South was successful, themselves to strike for an increase of 
 wages, in order to maintain their relative superiority of wages. Ac- 
 cordingly, as soon as the strike was announced, they resolved to increase 
 the weekly subscriptions amongst themselves to 1*. 6d. per head, and 
 in order to carry this out more effectually, established fortnightly 
 meetings of council, and published in the Journal the names of all 
 defaulters to the amount of 5«. and upwards. Also, on August 21st, 
 they despatched their leading man, Mr. Blake, to aid by his counsel 
 the Staffordshire men; and he took with him £50 as a first instal- 
 ment; on September 27th they sent a further sum of £70, and finally 
 one of £100. 
 
 Some few observations may be offered on this strike. It was a 
 strike for an advance of wages, yet no agreement could be come to 
 
158 Account of the 
 
 between, the parties either as to -what was the average amount of 
 existing wages — ^the men putting it at less than 15s. per week, the 
 masters at 30s. — or as to the extent of the advance demanded, the 
 masters estimating it from 10s. to 12s. for aU the higher labourers, the 
 men from 5s. to 8s. Now it is clear, to remove all doubt of these 
 questions would have been the first step in any rational settlement 
 of the dispute. It is equally clear that it lay with the masters to 
 do this : they had only to throw their books open to the inspection of 
 some impartial person, and it might have- been ascertained beyond 
 question what was the average rate of wages, and what, according 
 to the average amount of work done, would be the effect of the pro- 
 posed increase. This they did not do. 
 
 Judged by the result, the strike seems justifiable. The men were 
 successful; the only point on which they yielded was that they had 
 to work out another notice. And this they ought to have yielded 
 long before. The substantial fruits having been won, it was foolish 
 obstinacy to stickle for the formal recognition of their Union by the 
 masters. For the same reason, the pride of the masters which refused 
 to make this recognition seems to me unworthy of them; and their 
 conduct in the first instance — viz. the raising a mere technical objec- 
 tion to a notice they thoroughly understood, and attempting upon it 
 to throw the men into prison — seems to me tactics far from honour- 
 able, if the proper view of a strike is, not that it is a conspiracy 
 against the masters, but a suspension of business until the buyers 
 and sellers of labour can arrange the terms of their bargain. 
 
 The amount gained by the strike was per man at least 5s. per week, 
 and to the operative of the higher class, according to the masters' 
 representation, 10s. to 12s. (a most considerable rise), and, accord- 
 ing to the representation of the masters also, there was nothing 
 in the then state of the iron trade to account for any rise. The 
 obvious conclusion is, that the wages had been for months far below 
 that which the laws of political economy, weighing the supply and 
 demand of labour, would fix as the proper market wages, and that it 
 required a strike to set these laws or tendencies in motion. And 
 whatever was the cost of this strike, it was speedily repaid, and far 
 more than repaid, by the gain of 5s. per week to each of the chain 
 makers, in number between 2000 and 3000. 
 
 Lastly, the result of the strike is stated by one of the papers to 
 have established a much better feeling between master and man. 
 
Chain Makers' Strike. 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 Scale of Day's Work as adopted in the Factory of Abbott and Co. 
 
 159 
 
 SIDE WORK. 
 
 SHOKT LINK END WORK. 
 
 STUD CHAIN. 
 
 Inch. 
 
 Links. 
 
 Inch. Yards. Links. 
 
 Inch. Yards. Links. 
 
 H 
 
 84 
 
 li 7 2 
 
 lA 9i 
 
 lA 
 
 78 
 
 1t^ 7i 2 
 
 H 10 
 
 1* 
 
 72 
 
 U 8 2 
 
 lA lOi 
 
 lA 
 
 67 
 
 lA 8 3 
 
 1 11 
 
 H 
 
 62 
 
 1 8i 3 
 
 it 11 
 
 lA 
 
 57 
 
 \i 9 
 
 i 12 
 
 H 
 
 47 
 
 1 9i 
 
 „ fllengthis2i 
 i" \ days' work. 
 
 IH 
 
 44 
 
 ii Two lengths per week. 
 
 H 
 
 38 
 
 \\ Ditto. 
 
 S Ditto. 
 
 ift 
 
 35 
 
 1 Two lengths, six yds., ditto. 
 
 ii Ditto. 
 
 
 401 
 38 
 
 Double- 
 handed, i.e.. 
 
 t^ ) 25s. per week at present 
 
 f Ditto. 
 
 2 
 
 85 
 
 - working 
 
 °vj 1?"™^- 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 30 
 
 with two 
 
 t 1 
 
 ^g , 24«. per week at present 
 
 ^ r prices. 
 
 
 2i 
 
 25 ] strikers. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 Five Shilling List proposed by the Men on August 6th. 
 
 Size. 
 
 Common. 
 
 Best. B 
 
 est best. 
 
 stud. 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. J. 
 
 «. d. 
 
 J inch. 
 
 11 
 
 14 4 ] 
 
 L6 2 
 
 
 A " 
 
 9 8 
 
 12 2 ] 
 
 L3 6 
 
 
 i „ 
 
 7 4 
 
 9 
 
 10 2 
 
 
 A " 
 
 6 
 
 7 3 
 
 8 2 
 
 
 i „ 
 
 4 3 
 
 5 5 
 
 6 2 
 
 
 A " 
 
 3 9 
 
 4 6 
 
 5 2 
 
 
 i » 
 
 3 5 
 
 4 2 
 
 4 10 
 
 
 H „ 
 
 3 2 
 
 3 10 
 
 
 3 
 
 i .. 
 
 2 8 
 
 3 2 
 
 
 
 2 5 
 
 U " 
 
 2 6 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 2 3 
 
 i " 
 
 2 4 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 
 2 1 
 
 H " 
 
 2 2 
 
 2 8 
 
 ., 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 „ 
 
 2 
 
 2 6 
 
 
 
 1 10 
 
 lA „ 
 
 1 11 
 
 2 5 
 
 
 
 1 8 
 
 H .. 
 
 1 10 
 
 2 4 
 
 
 
 1 7 
 
 lA,. 
 
 1 10 
 
 2 4 
 
 
 
 1 6 
 
 n ,, 
 
 1 10 
 
 2 4 
 
 
 
 1 5 
 
 ■}^ size and smaller to be made with bellows. 
 
 f ditto and larger with blast. 
 
 All atnd chain required to stand extra test, Id. per cwt. extra. 
 
160 
 
 Account of the 
 
 Workmen's Prices, agreed to by the Chain Masters, at a General Meeting held at 
 Dudley, August 29rt, 1859. 
 
 oct-men s list. 
 Pkioes of Short Linked. Ditto Studded. Ditto Best Short Linked. 
 
 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 
 No. 
 
 5 
 
 Chain... 
 
 24 per cwt. 
 
 
 
 No. 
 
 5 Chain.. 
 
 28 per cwt 
 
 „ 
 
 4 
 
 „ 
 
 19 „ 
 
 
 
 „ 
 
 4 „ .. 
 
 21 
 
 U 
 
 75 
 
 3 
 2 
 
 „ ... 
 
 16 „ 
 13 „ 
 
 
 
 
 3 „ .. 
 
 2 „ .. 
 
 18 
 15 
 
 51 
 
 *i 
 
 1 
 
 )) ... 
 
 11 6 „ 
 
 
 
 
 1 „ ■•• 
 
 13 6 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 T% 
 
 
 10 „ 
 
 
 
 
 tV .. - 
 
 12 
 
 IS 
 
 
 U 
 
 ,, 
 
 9 „ 
 
 
 
 
 TiT n 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 ,, ... 
 
 8 „ 
 
 
 
 
 f „ - 
 
 9 6 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 bare ... 
 
 7 4 „ 
 
 
 
 
 TfV bare ... 
 
 8 4 
 
 
 
 tV 
 
 inch ... 
 
 6 4 „ 
 
 
 
 
 tV inch ... 
 
 7 4 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 bare ... 
 
 5 10 „ 
 
 
 
 i bare ... 
 
 6 10 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 inch ... 
 
 5 „ 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 i inch ... 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 Ts 
 
 ,, 
 
 4 4 „ 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 A " - 
 
 6 2 
 
 
 
 1" 
 
 „ 
 
 4 „ 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 i „ - 
 
 4 6 , 
 
 
 
 i4 
 
 ,, 
 
 8 8 „ 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 
 ii >. - 
 
 4 2 , 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 ,, 
 
 3 5 „ 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 f „ ... 
 
 3 11 , 
 
 
 
 if 
 
 ,, 
 
 3 2 „ 
 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 
 if „ - 
 
 3 8 , 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 ■g" 
 
 ,, 
 
 2 11 „ 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 
 i „ - 
 
 8 4 , 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 
 2 8 „ 
 
 O 
 
 5 
 
 
 if „ - 
 
 3 , 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 „ 
 
 2 6 „ 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 1 „ ... 
 
 2 9 , 
 
 
 
 ItV 
 
 
 2 5 „ 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 ItV .. - 
 
 2 8 , 
 
 
 
 IJr 
 
 
 2 4 „ 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 H „ ... 
 
 2 7 , 
 
 
 
 1t% 
 
 & larger 
 
 2 3 „ 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 1-rV & larger 
 
 2 6 , 
 
 
 rAOTOKT LIST, TTHERE MACHINERY IS USED FOR BLAST AND IRON CUTTING. 
 
 Prices of Short Linked. Ditto Studded. 
 
 Ditto Best Short Linked. 
 
 
 s. 
 
 rf. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 i inch bare chain 
 
 4 
 
 4 per cwt. 
 
 
 J inch bare chain 
 
 5 2 per cwt. 
 
 J inch chain ... 
 
 3 
 
 6 „ 
 
 3 3 
 
 J inch chain ... 
 
 4 3 „ 
 
 ■h 
 
 
 » 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 10 
 
 A " " - 
 
 3 9 „ 
 
 f ^ 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 9 „ 
 
 2 7 
 
 f .. 
 
 , 
 
 3 4 „ 
 
 ii . 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 „ 
 
 2 4 
 
 ii " 
 
 ) 
 
 3 „ 
 
 f > 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 „ 
 
 2 2 
 
 4 „ 
 
 1 
 
 2 8 „ 
 
 if ' 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2i „ 
 
 2 
 
 if .. 
 
 ) 
 
 2 6 „ 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 10 
 
 J .. 
 
 > 
 
 2 4 „ 
 
 if . 
 
 
 
 
 11 ,, 
 
 1 8 
 
 if „ 
 
 » 
 
 2 2 „ 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 9 „ 
 
 1 6 
 
 1 
 
 » ... 
 
 2 „ 
 
 IxV . 
 
 
 
 
 8 „ 
 
 1 5 
 
 ItV ,. 
 
 
 1 11 „ 
 
 H , 
 
 
 
 
 8 „ 
 
 1 5 
 
 14 „ 
 
 » ... 
 
 1 11 
 
 1t% , 
 
 
 
 
 7 „ 
 
 1 4i 
 
 1t^ " 
 
 ) 
 
 1 10 „ 
 
 li ai 
 
 d larj 
 
 er ... 
 
 
 7 „ 
 
 1 4 
 
 1^ and lar 
 
 jer ... 
 
 1 10 „ 
 
Chain Makers' Strike. 
 
 161 
 
 taotory iist, where no machinery 13 used. 
 Peices of Short Linked. Ditto Studded. Ditto Best Short Linked. 
 
 
 «. d. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 
 i inch bare oha 
 
 m 4 7 per cwt. 
 
 
 
 4 inch hare chain 
 
 6 5 per 
 
 cwt. 
 
 i inch chain 
 
 .. 3 9 „ 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 i inch chain ... 
 
 4 6 , 
 
 
 A " ,. 
 
 ..3 6 „ 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 A >. 
 
 4 2 , 
 
 
 * 
 
 1 n 
 
 "31 „ 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 * „ „ ... 
 
 3 9 , 
 
 
 ii 
 
 1 5> 
 
 .. 2 10 „ 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 ii „ „ ... 
 
 3 5 , 
 
 
 4 
 
 , „ 
 
 ..2 9 „ 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 1 „ „ ... 
 
 3 1 , 
 
 
 if 
 
 , ,, 
 
 -27 „ 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 if „ „ ... 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 i 
 
 , ,, 
 
 ..2 6 „ 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 2 8 , 
 
 
 \i 
 
 , „ 
 
 ..2 2 „ 
 
 
 11 
 
 if „ „ ... 
 
 2 5 , 
 
 
 1 
 
 5 1) 
 
 ..2 „ 
 
 
 9 
 
 1 „ „ ... 
 
 2 3 , 
 
 
 ItV 
 
 
 .. 1 11 „ 
 
 
 8 
 
 lii » „ ... 
 
 2 2 , 
 
 
 U 
 
 , ,, 
 
 ■■ 1 11 „ 
 
 
 8 
 
 li „ „ ... 
 
 2 2 , 
 
 
 ItV 
 
 , ,, 
 
 .. 1 10 „ 
 
 
 7 
 
 lA » -. ... 
 
 2 1 , 
 
 
 1 J and larger 
 
 ..19 „ 
 
 
 6 
 
 Ij and larger 
 
 2 1 , 
 
 
 Subject to Ordinary Proof. 
 
 Subject to Best Proof. 
 
 ALL THE ABOVE ABE NET PEICES. 
 
 APPENDIX III. 
 
 Amwere by a Chain making Firm, delivered during the Strike, to the Questions submitted 
 
 by the Committee. 
 
 1. We are manufacturers of iron, also chains, chain-cables, and anchors. 
 
 2. "We usually employ about 1000 men. 
 
 3. Our men are paid in cash every Saturday, and (with the exception of day- 
 labourers, at 2s. &d. per day) almost invariably by the piece. 
 
 4. The chain makers only amongst our workmen are members of a trade society ; 
 they number about 200. 
 
 5. Chain makers are all skilled workmen. 
 
 6. The unionists consist of those men who are least attentive to work. 
 
 7. We have been interfered with by the trade union many times with refer- 
 ence to wages. At the present time, our chain makers are on strike to enforce a 
 new scale of wages, made entirely by the Society, without the sanction of the 
 masters. 
 
 8. Men employed in ironworks, and who are none of them members of trades' 
 unions, are, as a class, more attentive to work, of better character, and in a far 
 better social position than the chain makers, who are all society men. 
 
 10. If one man was paid higher wages than the others, although as a workman 
 of greater value, all would demand the same. 
 
 11. There have been many strikes of our men, because we have employed those 
 who either did not belong to the Union, or who refused or neglected to pay the 
 levies to the Society. In one year, 1850, the society men struck three times from 
 the above cause, the strikes lasting eight months ; and this had the effect of 
 breaking up the Union, which has now been lately revived. 
 
 12. Piecework is general. 
 
 13. Machinery to perform nearly half the labour has been introduced : but the 
 society men strive to obtain all the benefit, by seeking to obtain the same rate of 
 wages as was paid before the introduction of machinery. 
 
 14. We have often suffered serious loss from being unable to complete contracts 
 on account of the strikes of the men, and have several times deferred entering into 
 contracts for the same reason. 
 
 15. Trade societies do not, in our opinion, develop a healthy public opinion 
 amongst the men, but, on the contrary, have a levelling tendency. 
 
 K 
 
162 Account of the 
 
 16. The smaller manufacturers have, since the breaking up of the Union in 
 1850, oppressed the men in their employ, and reduced the scale of wages to a very 
 low figure. These men do not work in bodies, but have shops attached to their 
 cottages, in which themselves and families work ; and we do not think they could 
 protect themselves without combination ; but men working in factories in large 
 bodies can always secure a fair rate of wages without being society men. 
 
 17. There is no combination of employers in our trade. 
 
 21. Always in busy times the Society has demanded, and sometimes obtained, 
 a very extravagant rate of wages. 
 
 22. When the demand is brisk, wages have always naturally risen without the 
 intervention of a society or strike. 
 
 Since answering question No. 11, we have been informed of the following fact. 
 A chain manufacturer in this neighbourhood has given notice to the Union that 
 he is prepared to accede to their demands as regards the scale of wages ; but as 
 he has had one man at work in his factory for the last six weeks who has refused 
 to join the Society, they will not allow any of his men to resume work until the 
 non-society man has been discharged. This has occurred this week. 
 
 A. B. 
 
 Septemler 21st, 1859. 
 
 Nearly ten years ago, in consequence of the serious injury we experienced in 
 our trade through the union of the chain makers causing frequent strikes, we 
 adopted the expedient of employing a number of apprentices (about seventy) , and 
 we built a new factory for them to work in ; these apprentices were bound to us 
 for a term of years in the visual form, and although we had great difficulty in 
 carrying out the scheme, in protecting the hands while at work, and in other 
 ways, we succeeded by these means in causing in a great measure the break-up 
 of the Union. Since that time we have been to a certain extent free from the 
 ruinous losses caused by strikes which until then we experienced. Within the 
 present year, however, the Union has been revived, and the result is that all the 
 chain makers in this district are now on strike for an advance of wages. The men 
 have been out for nine weeks, and although the state of trade does not warrant 
 any advance of wages, the masters have done all in their power to meet the 
 wishes of the men. An advance of about twenty per cent, on their wages has 
 been offered to them but refused, and even many of the masters have agreed to 
 give them the wages they demand; these offers have been met by the Union 
 with requisitions that such masters as have employed during the strike non-society 
 men, be fined one pound per week for every week such man has worked, and also 
 that they be remunerated for loss of time, &c. To demands such as these the 
 masters cannot accede, and as the Union declare their intention of enforcing them, 
 the result remains to be seen. 
 
 The men while on strike are supported partly by their own Union ; we see 
 also by the newspapers that they have received contributions from the Chain 
 Makers' Union in the north, to the extent of about fifty pounds per week, also 
 some trifling contributions from other societies in the district ; the whole, when 
 apportioned, brings to each man on strike no more than about two shillings per 
 week, and the men are consequently obliged to disperse through the neighbouring 
 country begging, in order to keep themselves and families from starvation. 
 
 Chain makers are paid high rates of wages, many (according to the description 
 of chain they make) being able to earn, in a good time of trade, three or four 
 pounds per week each, others not so much, the average perhaps being about 
 thirty shillings per week ; they are, however, as a class, very degraded in their 
 habits, spending the bulk of their wages in drink, their houses being in a most 
 filthy condition, and their wives and children in rags. There are of course many 
 among them to whom these remarks do not apply, but they are in most cases 
 opposed to the Union, or only join it through terror. Such men generally work 
 in shops attached to their houses, and of necessity blow their fires with bellows 
 (in large factories machinery has been substituted) ; when these men offend the 
 Union in any way, their bellows are sure to be cut to pieces during some suc- 
 ceeding night. During the seven years previous to 1850, and the last two years, 
 
Chain Makers' Strike. 163 
 
 hundreds of pairs have been so destroyed. Although in many cases the men 
 threatened have watched their shops for months together, the men employed by 
 the Union have generally succeeded ; those people who know and might inform 
 against the depredators, are either connected with the Union, or in fear of it. 
 
 A. B. 
 Octoler 7th, 1859. 
 
 APPENDIX IV. 
 THE CHAIN MAKERS' JOURNAL AND TRADES' CIRCULAR. 
 
 " It is to labour and labour only that man owes everything possessed of exchange- 
 able value. Labour is the talisman that has raised him from the condition of the 
 savage ; that has changed the desert and the forest into cultivated fields, that has 
 covered the earth with cities and the ocean with ships, that has given us plenty, 
 comfort, and elegance, instead of want, misery, and barbarism." — M'QuUoch. 
 
 THE CAUSES THAT REGULATE THE PKIOE OF LABOUE. 
 
 Paper HI. 
 
 How often' do we see the shallow and supercilious — ^who have secured for them- 
 selves by trade, or who have been fortunate enough to inherit, a large amount of 
 property or wealth — look down upon the honest workman with a certain amount 
 of disdain. Poor creatures ! Themselves of little value to the interests of hu- 
 manity or the progress of the world, their pride and prejudice prevents them from 
 recognising in the workman the founder of society, the substratum of social pros- 
 perity. Nevertheless the fact remains ; and good men everywhere, of whatever 
 rank or station, watch with interest the endeavours of the labourer to inform and 
 instruct his class ; to increase their self-respect by showing their utility ; to de- 
 crease their poverty by analysing their condition and unfolding its causes ; and, 
 above all, to show the connexion and relation between labour and capital. 
 
 Labour is the arch and capital, the keystone of society. The comforts, neces- 
 saries, elegances, and luxuries of life, are all upheld by it. The great mass of 
 mankind live by the reward of their labour, viz., wages. What then is the con- 
 nexion and relation between it and capital ? *" The relation between capital and 
 wages is direct. The accumulation of capital generally leads to an increase in 
 wages. If, however, the population of a country increase with an equal ratio 
 with capital, wages will remain stationary. If the population outstrip capital, 
 wages will decrease. If capital outstrip population, wages will rise. It follows 
 from this that the material prosperity of a couivtry depends upon the gradual 
 increase of its capital. It is a prime necessity, but not the prime necessity 
 of society: that is labour. 'Without capital," says M. Michel Chevalier, 
 ' all that men can produce, in exempting themselves from labour, is a larger 
 dish for themselves.' Without labour man could not do that. Labour con- 
 stitutes the first necessity of both savage and civilized life. Capital consists 
 in the accumulated labour, the useful inventions, and the acquired skill handed 
 down to us from the past. Labour can exist without capital — capital owes its 
 existence to labour. But it would seem only a small proportion of this goes to 
 pay wages. They are what is left after rent and profit are apportioned. 
 
 " ' The demand for those who live by wages, cannot increase but in proportion 
 to the increase of the funds which are destined to the payment of wages. These 
 funds are of two kinds ; first, the revenue which is over and abovewhat is neces- 
 sary for the maintenance ; and, secondly, the stock which is over and above what 
 is necessary for the employment of their masters. . . . The demand for those 
 who live by wages, therefore, naturally increases with the increase of national 
 wealth, and cannot possibly increase without it." — Adam Smith. 
 
 " ' By what law are wages regulated in lands where labour is free?' asks M. 
 Chevalier. ' By the abundance of qapital compared with the number of labourers 
 who require epmloyment,' is the answer. 
 
 * People's Press. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 Account of the 
 
 " Frederic Bastiat, in his 'Sopliismes Economiques,' defines wages by impli- 
 cation, as a ' remuneration governed by the general rate of profits.' John Stuart 
 Mill, in his ' Principles of Political Economy,' says : — ' It is not the absolute 
 amount of accumulation or of production that is of importance to the labouring 
 class : it is not the amount even of the funds destined for distribution among the 
 labourers ; it is the proportion between those funds and the numbers among whom 
 they are shared. Tlie condition of the class can be bettered in no other way than 
 by altering that proportion to their advantage ; and every scheme for their benefit, 
 which does not proceed on this as its foundation, is, for all practical purposes, a 
 delusion.' 
 
 " These quotations sufficiently indicate the source whence all improvement in 
 wages must be derived — namely, from the increase of capital. 
 
 " Practically wages consist of that remuneration without which men would not 
 work. Exactly that amount of money or goods which enables an employer to 
 obtain a command over a certain portion of the time and ability of a workman : 
 that is wages. Not how much is he worth, but for how little must he work is the 
 consideration governing the employer. Wages then, practically, are portions of 
 a certain outlay which the capitalist is compelled to make, in order that his 
 capital may be employed and return him a certain profit." 
 
 COUNCIL MEETING. 
 
 The regular council meeting was held at the Globe Inn, Clayton Street, New- 
 castle-upon-Tyne, on Saturday, April 2nd. 
 
 The following delegates were present : — Abbot's, Charles Blake, Nicholas Val- 
 lans, and William Wailes ; Hawks', Robert Laidler and Robert Hunter ; Lums- 
 don's, Sunderland, Donkin Allen ; Sunderland, South side, William Orton ; 
 Shield's, St. Peter's, William. Scott ; Noeth Shields, Thomas Atkinson ; Win- 
 LATO,s, M. McOlvin ; and George Ridley, Treasurer. Several other gentlemen 
 were also present and took part in the proceedings. 
 
 The following is the monthly account of income and expenditure ; — 
 
 Cb. Accodnt — Hartlepool, 16s. ; Shield's, St. Peter's, £2 9«. M. ; do. funeral, 
 6rf. ; Nicholson's, 10s. ; Clay's, 7s. \\d. ; Wight's, 4s. M. ; Lumsdon's, £2 14s. 9d; 
 Scott's, 13s. Orf. ; Abbot's, &1 Is. M. ; Hawk's, £4 3s. Sd. ; do. funeral. Is. Gd. ; 
 North Shields, £2 17s. Od. ; do. funeral, 6rf. ; Winlaton, 17s. Od. ; in treasurer's 
 hands, March 5th, £9 lis. 2d. ; in Lambton's bank, £85 Os. Od. ; Total, 
 £117 7s. &id. 
 
 Dr. Account— In Lambton and Co.'s bank, £85 Os. Od. ; in treasurer's hands, 
 £10 19s. lid.; journals (500 copies), £2 5s. Od.; expenses of council meeting, 
 April 2nd, 17s. Od. ; postage stamps on hand, 7s. 5d. ; expenses of delegates to 
 •Shields, Sunderland, Winlaton, and in paying Pow's men, £1 16s. Od. ; paid to 
 the Glassmakers, M:arch 12th, £1 Os. Od. ; paid Pow's men, March 12th, 
 £3 12s. Od. ; paid Mr. Siddaway to go to Stafibrdshire, £3 13s Od. ; paid to the 
 Glassmakers, March 18th, £1 Os. Od. ; paid Pow's men, March 18th, £1 16s. Od. ; 
 paid to Glassmakers, March 26th, £1 Os. Od. ; paid to Pow's men, March 26th, 
 £1 16s. Od. ; paid to Glassmakers, April 2nd, £1 Os. Od. ; paid Pow's men, April 
 2nd, £1 16s. Od. Total, £117 7s. 6irf. 
 
 The chairman (Mr. Robert Laidler) opened the business of the meeting, which 
 he said was most important. 
 
 Mr. Blake then gave a short description of the visit of a deputation to Messrs. 
 Tyzack and Co. of North Shields ; and stated that the appointment of a deputa- 
 tion to visit Staffordshire was one of the measures proposed. 
 
 Mr. Walie then stated that Mr. Brown, the managing partner of Abbot and Co., 
 had stated to his side-welders that a reduction in the price of manufacturing those 
 kinds of chain ought to be made. 
 
 A lengthened discussion ensued upon this, in which Messrs. Hunter, Atkinson, 
 McOlvin, Allen, and other delegates took part, all in opposition to any reduction, 
 and it was agreed, on the motion of Mr. Hunter, seconded by Mr. Vallana, that 
 Abbot's side-welders wait upon Mr. Brown on the first opportunity, and to 
 endeavour to bring matters to an amicable issue. 
 
Chain Makers' Strike. 165 
 
 It was thought necessary that a delegate be appointed to visit Glasgow, to in- 
 quire into the position of the chain makers in that town ; and Mr. Geo. Ridley- 
 was unanimously elected to go there, with full power to use his discretion as to 
 whether he went before the next Council meeting, according to certain eventuali- 
 ties which were likely to transpire. 
 
 Mr. Blake was appointed to visit Staffordshire, and also to wait upon several 
 employers in the trade. 
 
 Reports were then given of the position of the glassmakers upon strike, to 
 whom the Union was making a small contribution. 
 
 Pow's discharged men were also reported upon. 
 
 A circular was read which it was proposed to circulate extensively in every 
 maritime port of importance, both at home and abroad, showing the great mis- 
 chief that has arisen from the use of inferior chain for shipping purposes. It was 
 resolved to postpone its issue until Mr. Blake returned from the South. 
 
 A great deal of other business of a minor character was disposed of, and, after 
 the treasurer had received authority to draw upon the bankers of the Union for 
 necessary expenses, the meeting terminated with a vote of thaks to the chairman. 
 
 IIST OF NON-UNION MEN IN THE TRADE. 
 
 The great regard these men have for their own interests, and those of their 
 families, prevents their paying threepence per week for the purpose of improving 
 the position of the trade. They cannot see any benefit derived from Union. In 
 this free land, we are proud that every man can do as he likes, so long as he does 
 not injure his neighbour, but their conduct will long be remembered. 
 
 Hawks', Gateshead. — A. B., five in number. 
 
 SuNDBEiAND. — C. D., eleven in number. 
 
 Pow's, North Shields. — E. F., nineteen in number. 
 
 Railway Shops, Gateshead. — G., one. 
 
 REPOET OF THE CHAIN TRADE. 
 
 The chain trade still remains in a depressed condition. The following is tha- 
 report : — 
 
 Abbot's, Gateshead. — Large side welders, seven days ; small side welders, elevenr. 
 days ; large end welders, fifteen days ; small chain makers, nine days. 
 
 Shields', St. Peter's. — The average of all sizes about twenty days. 
 
 Hawks', Gateshead. — Large side welders, seventeen days ; small do., fifteen 
 days ; large end welders, fourteen days ; small do., fifteen days ; small chain 
 makers, twelve days. 
 
 Tyzaok's, North Shields. — Those making under J in. eight days; the larger sizes 
 six days. 
 
 Ltjmsdon's, Sunderland (North side). — Side men, twenty days; end men, 
 eighteen days. 
 
 Scott's, Sunderland (North side). — The average of all sizes, ten days. 
 
 Nicholson's, Sunderland (South side). — Large men, twenty days ; small men, 
 full time. 
 
 Clay's, Sunderland (South side) . — Large chain makers, twenty days ; small do. , 
 sixteen days. 
 
 Wight's, Sunderland (South side) . — All sizes, sixteen days. 
 
 WiNLATON. — Full employment, except two hawser makers, who have had 
 twelve days. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL. 
 
 Grenerally trade is steadily improving ; and the inquiry for money is more 
 active, although at times it varies in character. The rate is firm at 2i per 
 cent. . . . 
 
 The freighting engagements of the last fortnight have been limited in most 
 trades, although we can scarcely note a declension in the Mediterranean home- 
 ward rates, a certain languor pervades the market. A decided increase outward, 
 however, is apparent, with a large business current, and generally the export 
 traders depended upon by owners. , . . 
 
166 Account of the 
 
 The accounts of the trade and navigation of the United Kingdom for the month 
 of Fehruary, which have been issued by the Board of Trade, show a consider- 
 able increase in both exports and imports, as compared with the corresponding 
 period of last year. ... 
 
 The declai-ed value of exports of British produce and manufactures during the 
 month was £9,614,143 against £7,288,416 in the corresponding period of last 
 year, and £9,434,040 in that of 1857. The value of the principal metals was as 
 follows : — 
 
 Month ended Feb. 28, 
 1857. 1858. 1859. 
 
 Machinery : steam engines 104,068 76,798 43,336 
 
 Other sorts 
 
 Metals: pig iron 
 Bar and rod iron 
 
 Railway iron 
 Cast iron 
 Wrought iron 
 
 141,800 130,160 129,412 
 
 86,309 47,337 46,264 
 
 200,217 124,372 160,490 
 
 292,252 153,696 158,402 
 
 62,438 58,773 50,438 
 
 219,014 140,146 189,627 
 
 The Times' report from Birmingham on the state of the iron trade in that dis- 
 trict says : — Although the trade has gradually improved, the aggregate demand 
 for finished iron during the current quarter has not justified the sanguine antici- 
 pations entertained by the manufacturers in December. A very large amount of 
 sheets produced in the district are consumed in the cut-nail trade, and the de- 
 mand for nail sheets has been tolerably good through the quarter, and large quan- 
 tities have been shipped to Canada, but the falling off in the demand for all other 
 Mnds of iron for the United States, the Mediterranean, and the great ship-build- 
 ing establishments on the Clyde, and other parts of the United Kingdom, has 
 unquestionably falsified in a great degree the expectations expressed at the com- 
 mencement of the quarter. In Birmingham the workshops are, for the most part, 
 fairly employed, and factors' orders on the increase. 
 
 From Glasgow we learn that the increase of 136,000 tons in the stock of pig 
 iron in 1858, combined with the apprehensions of a continental war, caused, at the 
 opening of the year, extensive operations for a fall, but the stock is now decreas- 
 ing at the rate of 2,000 tons weekly, and, with the general belief that the result 
 of the Congress of European powers will be the maintenance of peace, a much 
 larger demand has arisen, advancing the rates nearly two shillings per ton. But, 
 apart from any political event that may interpose to mar the prospects, the trade 
 more than confirms the anticipations formed of it, before the close of 1858, and 
 is showing signs of activity concurrently with the expanding commerce of the 
 country. 
 
 The preliminary meeting of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire iron masters 
 was held in Birmingham on March 31st, and the prices of last quarter were fully 
 maintained, but there was no attempt at an advance. The trade was described as 
 rather flat, and not so brisk as was anticipated at the Christmas meeting. Little 
 doubt was, however, expressed that, as a war on the Continent was at present 
 improbable, a good export trade might be expected dui-ing the summer months. 
 The home demand for manufactured iron was improving, although still limited. 
 
 Strikes prevail in various trades. The glassmakers are still standing firm, 
 and several large firms in the South of England have given way ; and, upon the 
 whole, the men seem as resolute and determined as ever. 
 
 In Rochdale a number of piecers and doffers, at the Sparth Bottoms Mill, 
 belonging to Messrs A. Brierley and Sons, have turned out for an advance of 
 wages. The result was, that the whole of the other hands (upwards of 400) had 
 to cease work. The doffers at the mill of Messrs. Chadwick also turned out. At 
 the Messrs.' Howard's mill an advance was demanded without notice, at the close 
 of last week, it being known that the firm were executing some urgent contracts. 
 The employers yielded to an advance, but reserved the right to take it back when 
 trade should again be bad. 
 
 In the Midland Counties the shoemakers are still foolishly striking against the 
 introduction of machinery. The latest accounts say they are still leaving the town 
 (Stafford), and a considerable number- of females (binders) have also gone during 
 
Chain Makers' Strike. 167 
 
 the week to Cheltenham, Nantwioh, &c. The manufacturers continue united, 
 and at their meetings, held twice every week, the utmost firmness of purpose ia 
 evinced. A report from Stafford says : — " We were this morning shown a boot made 
 entirely by machinery, the soles being sprigged on and fastened by a machine 
 made for the purpose. This specimen of workmanship is tolerably well executed, 
 and as the machine becomes more fully developed and adapted to its peculiar 
 work, it will no doubt produce goods of a vastly, superior quality. Another 
 machine has also been invented, which, by an ingenious contrivance, fastens the 
 bottoms and heels on by means of brass screws, the soles possessing the same 
 elasticity as those made up in the ordinary way by manual labour. The applica- 
 tion of machines to the manufacture of boots and shoes will undoubtedly produce 
 a complete revolution in the boot and shoe trade, and a largely increased produc- 
 tion will enable enteriirising persons to extend, to an almost unlimited degree, 
 the export trade in this necessary article of daily use. It must not be supposed, 
 however, that these machines will supersede the necessity of manual labour — both 
 must be united in order to suit the tastes and supply the demands of all classes." 
 
 The sickle-makers at Hackenworth, near Sheffield, who are upon strike for an 
 advance of wages, are continuing the struggle which has lasted five months with 
 great loss to both masters and men, the latter still refuse to resume work except 
 upon their own terms, which are five per cent, up to August next, and ten per 
 cent, afterwards. The manufacturers have offered an advance of five per cent., 
 which has been refused. 
 
 The Legislature have two bills under consideration — " The Masters and Ope- 
 ratives' Bill," and the " Combination Bill" — with a view to render settlements 
 between employers and employed more easy, but the " dissolution " stops the 
 progress of legislation on social matters. We are not able to report as to whether 
 these bills are calculated to promote the objects they profess to seek, but as soon 
 as they have reached a more advanced stage we will examine their provisions. 
 
 The coal and iron trades in the North remain in a similar state as that given 
 by our last report. 
 
 The following are the prices of iron in the London market, March 31 : — Bars, 
 &c. (British), per ton, £8 10s. to £9 ; nail rods, £7 15s. to £8 5s.; hoops, £9 to 
 £9 10s.; sheets, £9 to £9 15s.; pig, No. 1, in Wales, £3 15s.; bars, &c., £6 2s. 
 6d. to £6 7s. Qd. ; rails, £6 15s. ; pig, M. N., in Glasgow, £2 12s. M. to £2 12s. 
 9d; Swedish, in London, £12 5s. to £13 5s. 
 
 EXPORTS OF CHAINS AND ANCHOKS FROM NEWCASTLE. 
 
 Total of anchors and chains exported from Newcastle-on-Tyne for the month 
 ending January 31st, 1859 : — 
 
 tons. cwt. qr. lb. 
 
 Chains 109 11 1 23 
 
 Anchors 24 8 2 6 
 
 Grand total of anchors and chains... 134 Oil 
 FEBRUARY, 1859. 
 
 Feb. 1st. — Speculation, Schacks, Wismar, Anchors, cwt. 65 — Shield, Hood, 
 and Co. 
 
 Feb. 3rd. — Bmerenia, Daird, Rostock, Chains, cwt. 254 2 24, Anchors, cwt. 
 47 2 9— Tyzack and Co. 
 
 Feb. 5th.—Zelta Margaretta, Buss, Brake, Chains, cwt. 60 0, Anchors, cwt. 
 14 0— Shield, Hood, and Co.; Chains, cwt. 305 0, Anchors, cwt. 67 0— 
 Tyzack and Co. 
 
 Feb. 7th.— Lord Raglan, Hart, Eotterdam, Chains, cwt. 177 0, Anchors, cwt. 
 23 3 0— Abbot and Co.; Ahte, Ojiuat, New York, Chains, cwt. 385 25— Pow 
 and Co. 
 
 Feb. 14th.— CTewy Chase, Taylor, Hamburg, Chains, cwt 84 26, Anchors, cwt. 
 16 11— Hawks and Co. 
 
 Feb. 16th. — Lord Raglan, Hart, Rotterdam, Anchors, cwt. 20 0— Abbot and 
 Co.; Chains, cwt. 40 0— Shield, Hood, and Co. 
 
 Feb. 19th — Patrician, Simpson, Genoa, Chains, tons 20 9 2 15 — Pow and Co. 
 
168 Account of the Chain Makers' Strike. 
 
 Feb. 22iid. — Otter, Lishman, Hamburg, Anchors, cwt. 8 — Abbot and Co.; 
 Chains, cwt. 269 12, Anchors, cwt. 48 1 10— Pow and Co.; Chains, cwt. 84 12 
 — Pow and Co. 
 
 Feb. 26th. — Champion, Eaison, Harlingen, Chains, cwt. 134 4, Anchors, cwt. 
 13 2 20— Pow and Co. 
 
 tons. cwt. qr. lb. 
 
 Total of anchors 15 18 1 12 
 
 Total of chains 110 3 8 
 
 Grand total of anchors and chains... 126 1 1 20 
 
 APPENDIX V. 
 
 Principal Rules of the Chain and Trace Makers' Anti-Truck and Frice-Protective 
 Association. Founded in 1844. 
 
 Kule 2. No member shall worlv for any master who truclcs any of his workmen, 
 but shall immediately give notice to the secretary of any attempt to enforce truck. 
 Penalty for breach, 5s. 
 
 Rule 3. Every master shall give, and every member demand, a similar price 
 for a similar quality of work. Penalty for breach, 5s. 
 
 Rules 3, 11, 15. Members not to be allowed to make finishing work, or to 
 prepare tools for non-members ; or to lend them their own tools, under penalties 
 of 5s. to 40s. Are bound to strike against any employer refusing to discharge a 
 member who receives truck, or works under price ; and no other member to take 
 the place of those striking, under penalties from 10s. to £b. 
 
 Rule 9. That when any employer's men are authorized to give notice for an 
 advance of wages, or on any other account, the general meeting or the delegates 
 who authorize them shall specify what notice shall be given, at the expiration 
 of which the men must immediately strike, unless their employers comply. 
 
 Rule 4. That a fund be raised in order to support the members when on 
 strike, &c., towards which (unless a heavy strike be pending) each male member 
 above nineteen years of age shall contribute 6d. per week, and women and chil- 
 dren Sd. 
 
 Rule 5. Strike-allowance to be 10s. per week for each adult male member, 5s. 
 for other members, and Is. for each child not able to work. 
 
 Rule 12. None to become members except those apprenticed according to rule. 
 
 Rule 13. That the female members, who marry workmen of other trades, shall 
 not teach their husbands nor their children whilst their husbands live, nor shall 
 they have any apprentice or journeyman. 
 
 Rule 14. That no member shall be allowed more than one apprentice ; that no 
 person be allowed any apprentice unless he has worked at the trade twenty years ; 
 that no person who has more than two children under twenty-one years of age 
 working at the trade with him, have any apprentice. Each member having an 
 apprentice to pay to the Society £5, or £,2 10s. if he has worked thirty years. No 
 sum, however, is demanded from those who have worked forty years, and have had 
 no child or apprentice at the trade. Apprentices in every instance to be bound 
 according to law. 
 
ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LOCK-OUT OF ENGINEERS, &c. 
 
 IN 1851-2. 
 
 PREPARED FOR 
 
 ®i)E !NatinnaI asBOciatton for % ^romDt:0n of Social Sctcncc, 
 
 AT THE BEQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE ON TEADEs' SOCIETIES. 
 
 By THOMAS HUGHES, 
 
 BARRI3TER-AT-LAW. 
 
 The sources from which this account has been compiled, are : 1st, 
 the accounts of proceedings and meetings, published at the time in 
 the newspapers; 2dly, the circulars and addresses published at the 
 time by the Amalgamated Society and the Employers' Association; 
 3dly, Reports and other documents of the Amalgamated Society 
 entrusted to me by the secretary ; 4thly, my own recollections of 
 the dispute. 
 
 I have endeavoured to state the case as fairly as possible, and I 
 believe that every statement of fact will be found to be strictly true. 
 Of course, however, when one has been behind the scenes on one 
 side of a dispute, and not on the other, one must always have mis- 
 givings. This is the case with me ; and though I have had before 
 my eyes all the time, the danger of favouring that side which has 
 done all in its power to give me help and information, and have been 
 proportionately anxious to state everything which the employers 
 might wish to have stated, it is quite possible that I may have over- 
 looked facts which may be deemed material by them. 
 
 In justice to myself I must add that if this should be so I am not 
 to blame. I wrote twice to Messrs. Hibbert and Piatt asking for 
 information. They forwarded my application to Mr. Whitworth, the 
 Secretary of the Employers' Association, from whom I received the 
 following letter : — 
 
 " 13, Corporation Street, Manchester, 
 " ISth January, 1860. 
 
 " SiK,— Your letter to Messrs. Hibbert and Piatt has been handed 
 to me by Mr. JohnPlatt, the surviving partner. 
 
 " As Secretary to the Association of Employers of Operative En- 
 gineers, I shall be glad to furnish you with any information which 
 I am able, but I am at a loss to say what information I could send you 
 beyond the published papers which you have already seen. 
 
1 70 Account of the 
 
 " I don't think it -would be agreeable to the masters generally, that 
 any authorized statement of their course of action should be made. 
 
 ' I think the general feeling would be that, the matter having been 
 well settled, and no remnant of disturbance having since made its 
 appearance, it would not be wise, nor in the interest of the public 
 good, that the masters should even inferentially do anything to 
 revive in the remotest degree, the feelings which that contest engen- 
 dered. If, however, I can give you any specific information which 
 will be of use to you, I shall be glad. 
 
 " Yours, most obediently, 
 
 " Henky Whitwoeth. 
 " Thos. Hughes, Esq., 
 "3, Old Square, Lincoln's Inn, W.C." 
 
 In answer to which, I forwarded a copy of the present report, 
 asking him for any remarks or evidence as to the facts stated therein. 
 He returned it with the following letter : — 
 
 " 13, CoBPOKATioN Stkeet, Manohestek, 
 " 2ith January/, 1860. 
 " Sir, — I have read your paper through, and am obliged by the 
 opportunity you have afforded me. 
 
 " I still think it is best that neither the masters nor their then secre- 
 tary should interfere in reference to the statements made. And 
 whilst complimenting you, as I must, upon the brevity with which 
 you have covered the ground, I think I shall best consult their 
 wishes by refraining from any further remark. 
 " Thanking you for your courtesy, 
 " I am, 
 
 " Yours, most obediently, 
 
 " Henkt Whitwoeth. 
 " Thos. Hughes, Esq., 
 " 3, Old Square, Lincoln's Inn, London." 
 
 I by no means wish to assert or to imply that Mr. Whitworth's 
 view is not the right one, and I wish to thank him for his courteous- 
 ness to myself personally. I must, however, insist that if the mas- 
 ters' case is not fairly put (which, however, I do not believe,) the 
 blame must rest on their own shoulders. 
 
 The dispute between the Master Engineers and the great Society of 
 the Iron Trades, known as the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, 
 Machinists, Millwrights, Smiths, and Pattern Makers, which came to 
 the usual crisis in the winter of 1851-2, was the first of a new class 
 of strikes or lock-outs. It was carried on and fought out with the 
 greatest vehemence and stubbornness, and excited the deepest interest 
 through the whole country. 
 
 In order to understand the dispute, it will be necessary to go back 
 to the year 1850. In this year a number of the societies of workmen 
 in the iron trades throughout the country (finding, as one of their 
 number expresses it, " That they were in too isoalted a state, and 
 therefore not able to command what they were really entitled to") had 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, ^c. 171 
 
 united, under the name of " The Amalgamated Society of Engineers, 
 Machinists, Millwrights, Smiths, and Pattern Makers." In 1851 
 the Society increased rapidly, and on the 31st of December in that 
 year numbered 11,829 members ; it had 121 branches in different 
 towns of the United Kingdom ; its income for the year amounted to 
 £22,807 Ss. Sid. ; its expenditure to £13,324 19*. lljt?. ; it had in 
 hand an available balance of nearly £22,000. 
 
 This Amalgamated Society had from the hour of its birth been 
 pledged to attempt to abolish systematic overtime and piecework in 
 the iron trades. In fact, the desire to get rid of these customs 
 had been one of the chief reasons which had induced the different 
 Societies to consent to the amalgamation. 
 
 The attention of the workmen in the iron trades had long been 
 turned to these two customs, both of which, but especially overtime, 
 the great majority of the men undoubtedly believed to be very inju- 
 rious to their best interests. 
 
 In 1836 a compromise had been come to between the masters and 
 men in London, by which it was settled that overtime should be paid 
 for at certain stipulated rates in advance of the regular scale; and 
 this compromise would seem to have remained in force in the London 
 district up to the time of the great strike. But in Lancashire the 
 agitation on these questions became chronic ; disagreements, often 
 terminating in strikes, were frequent; the Societies paid for essays 
 on the physical evils of overwork, which were circulated amongst 
 the trades ; and by every other means in their power kept up a 
 strong feeling upon these subjects, not only amongst their own mem- 
 bers but throughout the trade. 
 
 Consequently, at the delegates' meeting at which the amalgamation 
 of the Societies in the iron trade was voted, which was held at Bir- 
 mingham, in September, 1850, the questions of overtime and piece- 
 work were discussed. 
 
 At this delegates' meeting (so far as I can judge from the several 
 statements I have seen as to what took place there), the delegates 
 from Lancashire and other districts forced on the Executive Council 
 the necessity of acting, urging " that they were now strong enough 
 to act effectually," and that the whole trade was convinced that the 
 " abolition of the system of overtime and piecework had become ab- 
 solutely necessary for their future welfare ;" while " the Executive 
 Council rather hung back, and for a length of time withstood these 
 demands." However this may have been, it was, at any rate, re- 
 solved by the meeting, that the Executive CouncU 'should ascertain 
 the feeling of all the members of the Society upon each of these 
 questions, with a view of taking some action with respect to the 
 obnoxious customs. 
 
 The inference that it was the country delegates who were urging 
 action and the Council who were holding back, seems to be borne out 
 by the fact, that the Council, when left to themselves, allowed almost 
 a year to pass without taking any step. At length, on the 11th of 
 July, 1851, they issued a Circular to aU their branches, which, so far 
 
1 72 Account of the 
 
 as it bears upon the lock-out, was as follows : — " In accordance with 
 the instructions of the Birmingham delegate meeting, the Executive 
 Council conceive it to be their duty to ascertain the opinions of the 
 members on the question of piecework and systematic overtime, 
 with a view of adopting some general instructions to their members 
 on those two important subjects." 
 
 Annexed was a schedule of questions, amongst which were the 
 following : — 
 
 " How many members are there in your district working systematic 
 overtime ? 
 
 " How many non-society men are there working systematic over- 
 time ? 
 
 " How many members are there in your district working piece- 
 work ? 
 
 " How many non-society men are there working piecework ? 
 
 " Votes of members in your district in favour of abolishing sys- 
 tematic overtime. 
 '_ against 
 
 " Votes of members in your district in favour of abolishing piece- 
 work. 
 . against 
 
 " State the general feeling of the men employed at the trade in 
 your district on the questions of piecework and systematic overtime." 
 
 This schedule was to be filled up and returned to the general secre- 
 tary by the 14th of August. 
 
 I do not know whether it has ever been asserted that the opinions 
 of the men were not fairly taken on this Circular. No such assertion 
 was made while the lock-out lasted ; it is probable, therefore, that 
 the voting was honest. The result was certainly curious — out of 
 11,800 members upwards of 9,000 voted, and of these only 16 in 
 favour of piecework ani systematic overtime. 
 
 The Executive Council seem to have thought the battle already 
 won when the result of this vote became known. They proceeded 
 at once to act, and prepared two official Circulars, one addressed to 
 the men, the other to the masters in the iron trades. On the 24th 
 of November, 1851, these Circulars were published. 
 
 The Circular to the men of the trades merely recapitulated the old 
 arguments against systematic overtime and piecework as practised, 
 and then set out the three following resolutions, which had been 
 passed by the Executive Council, and which (as the Circular ended) 
 " they doubt not will be approved of and supported by the whole of 
 the trade": — 
 
 " 1. That all engineers, machinists, millwrights, smiths, and pattern 
 makers cease to work piece and systematic overtime after the 31st 
 of December, 1851. 
 
 " 2. That in all cases of break-downs, or accidents where members 
 of the trade are called upon to work overtime, that they be paid 
 double time for all time so worked. 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, ^c. 173 
 
 " 3. That all time worked after half-past five or six o'clock in the 
 evening, and before six o'clock in the morning, be considered over- 
 time, excepting Saturday, vs^hen overtime commences from the termi- 
 nation of the usual day. 
 
 " (By the order of the Council,) 
 
 " W. Allan, Secretary." 
 
 It will be remarked that these resolutions are put in the most 
 general form ; they are addressed to every member of the trade, and 
 not to the members of the Amalgamated Society only. 
 
 In fact, it^is quite clear from the tone of the Society at this time 
 that they expected an easy victory. It was evidently the impression 
 of many of the leading men amongst them, that a large number of 
 the masters would agree with them, and be glad to see the two 
 customs abolished, while they made no doubt whatever of overcoming 
 the opposition of the rest. " The amalgamated trades are strong 
 enough," they say, in the Circular last referred to, "to meet any 
 storm of opposition which may arise, and to support those who are 
 faithful to their order, and we are certain of the co-operation of the 
 whole trade, who will rally round us, and with one voice pledge 
 themselves to support us in utterly putting dovsm piecework and 
 overtime." 
 
 The Circular to the employers must be set out in full, as it is of 
 great importance in the history of the lock-out. 
 
 " Circular to the Employers. 
 
 "Gentlemen, — The Executive Council of the Amalgamated 
 Society of Engineers, Machinists, Millwrights, Smiths, and Pattern 
 Makers, wish to address a few observations to you upon the prac- 
 tices of piecework and overtime, which they have come to a resolu- 
 tion to abolish. 
 
 "The Executive Council, in taking this course, have not the 
 slightest intention of unwarrantably interfering with, or attempting 
 to dictate to employers. They have only in view the performance 
 of their duty as the guardians of the interests of the members, and 
 the organ through which the voice of the trade expresses itself, and 
 they trust that what they have to say will be interpreted in the 
 amicable spirit which animates them. 
 
 " So far, indeed, from the discussion of these questions, if properly 
 considered, having a tendency to create angry feelings, we believe 
 that their satisfactory adjustment is of equal importance to both 
 employers and workmen, and that each party should be anxious to 
 see them equitably settled. We believe, too, that the present time 
 is peculiarly fitted for the discussion of such questions, as is shown 
 by the interest evinced in them by the public at large, and the 
 general desire which exists among all classes to shorten the hours of 
 labour. 
 
 "In addressing gentlemen in your position, it is not of course 
 necessary for us to elaborate thoughts, with which you must be to 
 
174 Account of the 
 
 the full as well acquainted as ourselves ; all we need do is to 
 state the simple facts of the case, and leave them to your consider- 
 ation. 
 
 " We would say, then, that overtime is injurious to employers, 
 because it is the dearest possible way of doing the work that is to 
 be done. Not only is the rate of payment for time greater, but a 
 higher price is paid to tired workmen, whose capability of work 
 just when they should be leaving their labour is considerably re- 
 duced. Taken as a whole, we should not be far beyond the mark 
 when we say, that work done in overtime costs nearly double that 
 which is performed in the ordinary working hours. 
 
 " Beyond, however, the mere fact of men being less able to exert 
 themselves when they are actually working overtime, the system 
 tends to produce permanent incapability, by injuring the health of 
 the workman, and thus making his ordinary labour of less value 
 than it would otherwise be. 
 
 " Besides this, overtime is one of the most certain causes of igno- 
 rance, by preventing men who leave their beds to work and leave their 
 work to sleep devoting any portion of their time to the cultivation of 
 their minds. Every employer knows that it is better to have intel- 
 ligent men than ignorant ones, for independent of the former being 
 more tractable and trustworthy, the intelligence they must bring to 
 their work increases their value. 
 
 " "We have as yet said nothing of the system of piecework, but it 
 must be obvious that most of the reasons applying to overtime are 
 capable of being urged against it, Whatever evils spring from men 
 working longer hours than is consistent with their health or moral 
 wellbeing, spring from piecework to the full as much as from over- 
 time. By it men are incited to work as long as exhausted nature 
 can sustain itself, and in addition it leads them to hurry over their 
 work, and leave it imperfectly finished when defects may be con- 
 cealed. 
 
 " We would hope, however, that irrespective of the considerations 
 springing from these facts, and which merely affect the interests of 
 employers, we may enlist your sympathies on higher grounds. We 
 would appeal to those feelings which dignify and ennoble our com- 
 mon humanity, to induce you to give up something of mere gain, if 
 need be, in order to elevate the condition of your workmen. For 
 that, however, there is no necessity. In this instance, at least, 
 benefit to yourselves and benevolence to your workmen go hand in 
 hand, and we beg that you will serve at once your own cause and 
 that of your workmen, by intimating to us that we need not fear 
 your opposition, but rather may reckon on your support in this efibrt 
 to deal with the questions of piecework and overtime. 
 
 " Entertaining these views, and actuated by these motives, the 
 Executive Council have decided to advise the trade generally to dis- 
 continue the practices of systematic overtime and piecework after 
 the 31st of December, 1851, and in those cases where overtime is 
 really necessary, in cases of break-downs or other accidents, all time 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, ^c. 175 
 
 so worked over to be charged and paid for at the rate of double 
 time. 
 
 " I am, Gentlemen, 
 
 " Your obedient Servant, 
 
 " Wm. Allan, Gen. Sec. 
 " London, 25, Little Alie Street, Whitechapel, 
 '' 24th Novemier, 1851." 
 
 As the men ought to have foreseen, open war between the Em- 
 ployers and the Amalgamated Society immediately followed the pub- 
 lication of this Circular ; but, in order to explain why the struggle 
 took the shape which it did take as soon as the " Employers' Asso- 
 ciation " came into the field, it wiU be necessary to glance at some 
 events which had been happening at Oldham during the previous 
 eighteen months. 
 
 In 1850, and the early part of 1851, there had been constant dis- 
 putes between Messrs. Hibbert and Piatt, of Oldham, and their 
 workmen, into the particulars of which it is unnecessary to enter 
 further than to remark, that besides the abolition of systematic over- 
 time, the Oldham men had demanded that a certain foreman, whose 
 conduct as to piecework they considered to be very oppressive, 
 should have all authority taken from him ; and, that the working of 
 certain machines, which labourers were competent to manage, and 
 were actually managing, should be restored to mechanics. 
 
 In February, and again in May, 1851, the Oldham workmen sent 
 to Mr. Newton, one of the Council of the Amalgamated Society, 
 requesting him to come down and try to mediate between them and 
 the firm of Hibbert and Piatt. Mr. Newton seems to have gone 
 down in February, merely in his private capacity, and to have dis- 
 approved of the demand the men were making for the discharge of 
 unskilled workmen. 
 
 Mr. John Piatt had proposed as a compromise, that all machines 
 worked by labourers should continue to be worked by labourers 
 but that all machines to be set up in future should be worked by 
 mechanics. 
 
 This proposal was supported by Mr. Newton, but opposed by 
 four-fifths of the men, and Messrs. Hibbert and Piatt, sooner than 
 prolong the dispute, came to the arrangement hereinafter referred 
 to. 
 
 In May, when summoned again to Oldham, Mr. Newton laid the 
 matter before the Council, probably wishing to carry the authority 
 of the Society with him. The following is the note of the event 
 from the minute book of the Executive Council, dated May 5th, 
 1851 :— , J , 
 
 "Mr. Newton informed the Executive Council that he had received 
 a communication from Oldham, requesting him to go down there, as 
 there was a dispute between Messrs. Hibbert, Piatt and Co. and their 
 workmen, respecting systematic overtime and the working of ma- 
 chines, the particulars of which he was not enabled to state ; but he 
 
176 Account of the 
 
 would like to know tlie opinion of the Council on these questions 
 before going. 
 
 " ' Resolved, — That the Executive Council is prepared to assist 
 the Oldham members to the extent of their power in abolishing sys- 
 tematic overtime, but cannot consent to assist them in removing the 
 unskilled workmen from the self-acting machines.' " 
 
 Mr. Newton went to Oldham, and returned to London in time to 
 attend the meeting of the Executive Council, held on May 13th, 
 1851. The minute book for that day has the following entry : — 
 
 " Mr. Newton stated to the Council that he had been to Oldham, 
 but had not been able to mediate successfully between the workmen 
 and Messrs. Hibbert, Piatt and Son. Mr. John Piatt had made cer- 
 tain propositions, and he had advised the men to accept them, but 
 they had refused, when it was 
 
 " ' Resolved, — That in the opinion of this Council the offer of Mr. 
 John Piatt ought to be accepted, and the Oldham men will not be 
 justified in refusing it ; and that Mr. Newton, of London, and 
 Messrs. Norbury and Hemm, of Manchester, be deputed to the work- 
 men of Messrs. Hibbert and Piatt to jDrevail on them not to leave their 
 situations, but to accept the proposals of Mr. Piatt.' " 
 
 This deputation accordingly went to Oldham, and not having 
 succeeded in settling the dispute, informed the men that if they struck 
 Work they would receive no support from the Society. In July the 
 men did strike, were not supported by the Society, and soon went to 
 work again. 
 
 As has been already stated, in February, 1851, an agreement was 
 actually come to, reduced into writing, and signed in duplicate by 
 Messrs. Piatt, and by Mr. Newton on behalf of the men, one stipula- 
 tion in which was, that the machines about which there was the dis- 
 pute should be restored to skilled mechanics at Christmas, 1851. It 
 is necessary to notice these disputes thus far, to show what ground 
 the " Employer's Association" had for the most telling accusation 
 which they brought against the Amalgamated Society, viz. that that 
 Society demanded the discharge oflabourers from self-acting machines. 
 No such demand was made by the Amalgamated Society ; in fact, 
 they had distinctly repudiated it as a Society. On the other hand, 
 Messrs. Hibbert and Piatt had been forced by their men to this con- 
 cession ; most of these men actually belonged to the Amalgamated 
 Society, they had summoned a member of the Council to represent 
 them in conferences with their employers, and a deputation had been 
 specially sent by the Society to endeavour to settle the dispute ; and 
 no doubt the Oldham men, in their interviews with Messrs. Hibbert 
 and Piatt, had used the name of the Society freely. 
 
 On the 24th of November, therefore, the day on which the Circulars 
 of the Amalgamated Society were issued, Messrs. Hibbert and Piatt 
 were, as the men asserted, under an agreement to restore their self- 
 acting lathes to mechanics at Christmas, 1851; as they themselves 
 asserted, the agreement had been cancelled by the subsequent proceed- 
 ings of their men, so they were under no such engagement, but their 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, Sfc. 177 
 
 men were nevertheless going to turn-out on the 31st of December, 
 unless the lathes were given up. 
 
 The Circular seems to have excited very little notice at first in the 
 London districts, but in Lancashire a strong feeling of indignation 
 arose at once against the Society. As was natural enough, Messrs. 
 Hibbert and Piatt came forward, and by stating their own grievances 
 from their own point of view enlisted the sympathy of the body of 
 employers. A meeting was called on the 9th of December, 1851, at 
 the Clarence Hotel, Manchester, at which most of the engineering 
 firms of the Manchester district were represented, and the following 
 resolutions were passed : — 
 
 1st Resolution. — " That this meeting, having heard the statement 
 of Messrs. Hibbert, Piatt, and Sons, that their work-people intend to 
 turn out on the 31st of December, 1851, unless all the men now 
 working at planing machines, or tools of a similar character, are dis- 
 charged, and their places supplied by mechanics belonging to a 
 Trades' Union, the undersigned have taken this statement into con- 
 sideration, and pledge themselves, should such turn-out take place on 
 this plea, either at the works of Messrs. Hibbert, Piatt, and Sons, or 
 at those of any of the undersigned, to close their establishments, and 
 not to re-open them until agreed upon by the vote of a general 
 meeting, and then only with work-people who have no connexion 
 with such Trades' Union. 
 
 2nd Resolution. — " That a guarantee fund, arising from contributions 
 of 10s. for every person employed by each member of this Association, 
 be formed, to carry out the views, and to defray the expenses of the 
 Society, and deposited in the names of the Committee or Treasurer, 
 in Messrs. B. Heywood and Co.'s Bank, Manchester, as a guarantee 
 for the good faith of each member, and the Committee are hereby em- 
 powered, in case any member fails to comply with these resolutions, 
 to forfeit his deposit, or such portion as they may think fit, and their 
 decision shall be final. The Committee are further empowered to 
 return their deposits, or any such portion thereof, as soon as they 
 may consider it expedient." 
 
 3rd Resolution. — " That if any member of this Association con- 
 siders himself aggrieved by any encroachments of his work-people, he 
 is requested to communicate a statement of them to the Secretary, 
 who shall call the Committee together within a week from the receipt 
 of such application, to I'eceive the report, and to decide whether it is 
 a case calling for the interference of the Association." 
 
 4th Resolution. — " That each member be requested to communicate - 
 to the Secretary, on Tuesday, the 16th December, the number of per- 
 sons in his employment, and to pay his proportion of the guarantee- 
 fund." 
 
 At their adjourned meeting, on December 16th, 1851, the Asso- 
 ciation of Employers prepared and sent to the Times the following 
 advertisement, which appeared in that paper on the 20th : — 
 
 "Manchpstee, Dec. 17th, 1851. 
 
 " A body of persons styling themselves the Amalgamated Society 
 
178 Account of the 
 
 of Engineers, Machinists, Millwriglits, Smiths and Pattern Makers, 
 liavino- made demands on several firms in this district which are 
 totally inconsistent with the rights of employers of labour, and would, 
 if acceded to, preclude the exercise of all legitimate authority by the 
 masters in their own workshops ; and the same body having further 
 given notice to one of the principal firms, that unless their demands 
 be at once conceded the work-people in their employ will go out 
 on strike on the 31st instant, we, the undersigned engineers, mill- 
 wrights, and machine-makers, employers in the aggregate of ten 
 thousand hands, have unanimously determined to close our establish- 
 ments in case any turn-out of such work-people, or of the work-people 
 in the employment of any of us, should take place on the 31st instant, 
 or at any subsequent period, on the ground that such demands have 
 not been complied with. 
 
 " We also declare, that we are compelled to adopt this course as a 
 purely defensive step against the interference and dictation of a small 
 but mischievous class of agitators, who are endeavouring to force all 
 well-disposed work-people into open opposition with their employers, 
 and advising steps which can only end in misery and ruin to the 
 really honest and industrious artisan." 
 
 This 'advertisement was signed by thirty-four Lancashire firms. 
 The statements contained in it as to the Amalgamated Society were 
 not strictly accurate, but there was evidently no wish to misrepresent. 
 
 In the same paper, however, apjseared an anonymous letter, signed 
 " Amicus," drawing attention to the advertisement, and then proceeding 
 as follows : 
 
 " As this same Society has favoured the masters throughout the 
 country with a programme of its intentions, I may briefly enumerate 
 the leading features. The Union demands : — 
 
 " 1 . That the system of working extra hours or overtime be 
 abolished, excepting in cases of break-down, and that when such 
 overtime is worked, it shall be paid for at double rates. 
 
 " 2. That the system of piece or task work be entirely abolished. 
 
 " 3. That the masters at once and without reserve discharge the 
 class of persons engaged in and long trained to the working of self- 
 acting machines, and employ in their stead mechanics, members of the 
 Union. 
 
 "These are their formal demands, but it is understood that the 
 Council are preparedto advocate an equalization oftherate of wages ; 
 to lend themselves, in fact, to an agitation for a trial of the ingenious 
 doctrines of M. Louis Blanc." 
 
 Unfortunately, the Times and other papers at once accepted this 
 statement of "Amicus" of the demands of the Society, both formal and 
 understood, as true. Anything more untrue could scarcely have been 
 invented. This body of the highest-paid workmen in England were 
 as notoriously opposed to equalization, in the sense here used, as they 
 were to reduction of wages. However, the shaft went home and the 
 wound rankled, and m_uch of the bitter feeling of the men, which long 
 outlived the struggle (and I fear can scarcely be said to be dead even 
 now), " that they had been misrepresented, that they had not had fair 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, ^c. 
 
 179 
 
 play from the press," must be laid to the account of this reckless 
 anonymous writer. 
 
 The Manchester Association of Employers now sent a deputation 
 to London. A meeting was held at the London Coffee-house on 
 December 24th, which was attended by the representatives of most of 
 the firms in the London district. The following is the published 
 Report of their proceedings. 
 
 " At a meeting of employers of operative engineers, machinists, &c. 
 held at the London Coffee-house, Ludgate Hill, London, on Wednesday, 
 the 24th December, 1851 ; present, Messrs. 
 
 William Jackson. 
 Joel James. 
 Thomas Maudslay. 
 J. E. McConnell. 
 
 W. B. Adams, Adams and Co. 
 
 William Anderson. 
 
 C. E. Amos, Eastoa and Amos. 
 
 Lewis Ash. 
 
 Jolin Blyth, J. and A. Blyth. 
 
 H. W. Blake, James Watt and Co. 
 
 George Bovill, Swaine and Bovill. 
 
 Alfred Burton, Burton and Son. 
 
 J. J. Brunei, Seaward and Capel. 
 
 Alfred Blyth, J. and A. Blyth. 
 
 James Cope. 
 
 Edward Crawley. 
 
 Arthur Collinge, Collinge and Co. 
 
 Bryan Donldn, jun. Bryan, Donldn and 
 
 Co. 
 Thomas Donldn. 
 George Easton. 
 James Easton. 
 
 Joshua Field, Maudslay, Sons, and Field. 
 George Fletcher. 
 
 M. D. Grissell, H. and M. Grissell. 
 Henry Grissell. 
 
 P. E.. Hodge, Hodge and Batley. 
 William Heiley. 
 W. Joyce, Joyce and Co. 
 
 James M. Napier. 
 
 J. S. Russell, Robinson and Russell, 
 
 John Penn, ]?enn and Son. 
 
 W. H. Pearson. 
 
 C. Pontifex, Pontifex, Son and Wood. 
 
 George Rennie, G. and Sir J. Rennie- 
 
 Richard Ravenhill, Miller, Ravenhill 
 
 and Salkeld. 
 Charles Rich. 
 R. A. Robinson. 
 
 William Shears, Shears and Son. 
 John Seaward, Seaward and Capel. 
 J. D. A. Samuda. 
 
 William Simpson, Simpson and Co. 
 Daniel Shears, jun. 
 Joel Spiller. 
 
 Hayward Tyler, Tyler and Co. 
 Stephen T. Taylor. 
 Joseph Wilkinson. 
 And other firms. 
 
 Also a Deputation from Manchester. 
 
 " Joseph Field, Esq., was called to the chair. 
 
 " A communication was read from a Committee of Employers of 
 Mechanics of Manchester and neighbourhood, intimating that 
 
 " A body of persons styling themselves the Amalgamated Society 
 of Engineers, Millwrights, Mechanics, &c., have made the following 
 demands to the employers of this district ; accompanied by a threat to 
 one of the principal firms, that unless they are acceded to, their work- 
 people will strike on the 31st inst. 
 
 "1. The abolition of overtime, excepting in cases of break-down. 
 
 "2. When overtime is absolutely necessary, it is to be paid for at 
 double rates. 
 
 "3. The abolition of the system of piecework. 
 
 "4. The unconditional discharge of all labourers, or such class of 
 persons at present engaged in working planing machines, or tools of 
 similar character, and the employment in their stead of mechanics, 
 members of the Union. 
 
 "Another communication from the Executive Council of the said 
 Amalgamated Society, notifying to the employers of the metropolis 
 
 n2 
 
1 80 Account of the 
 
 that they 'have come to a resolution to abolish the practices of piece- 
 work and overtime,' after the 31st of December, 1851, was also taken 
 into consideration ; 
 
 "Whereupon it was unanimously resolved, on the motion of John 
 Blyth, Esq., seconded by Henry Grissell, Esq.: — 
 
 " ' 1. That while this nation, by its representatives in Parliament, 
 has abolished guild privileges, exclusive charters of corporate handi- 
 crafts, restrictions on the export of machinery or the free egress 
 from the realm of skilled workmen, and all monopolies, the foregoing 
 requisitions of the Amalgamated Society are an attempt to ignore 
 the right of every British subject to dispose of his labour or capital 
 according to his individual views of his own interest ; to deprive the 
 skilled workman of the natural advantages of his superiority; forcibly 
 to compel the industrious and careful mechanic to share the profits 
 of his assiduity and dexterity with the slothful and inexpeit ; and 
 deliberately to deprive the unskilled labourer of the means of 
 employment.' 
 
 " On the motion of John Saward, Esq., seconded by Bryan Donkin, 
 Esq.:— 
 
 " '2. That the dependence of the public prosperity upon the 
 steady and uninterrupted pursuit of mechanical industry renders it 
 essential to the successful development of practical engineering 
 enterprise, to the protection of the community from extortionate 
 prices, of the capitalists from becoming the slave of his own hands, 
 and of the steady and able workman from encroachment upon his 
 independent rights of labour, that the threats conveyed in the fore- 
 going manifesto of dictation to employers and tyranny over the 
 employed, should be promptly and peremptorily resisted.' 
 
 "On the motion of Kichard Ravenhill, Esq., seconded by Joel 
 SpiUer, Esq.: — 
 
 " ' 3. That while the division of labour, which is essential to the 
 profitable prosecution of mechanical enterprise, renders the employ- 
 ment of one denomination of workmen dependent upon the co-opera- 
 tion of those engaged in other departments, the threatened strike of 
 the Amalgamated Society, by withdrawing certain classes of artisans 
 from the factory, must have the effect of throwing their fellow- work- 
 men out of employment, by compelling masters to close their es- 
 tablishments until the combinations of skilled labour, interrupted by 
 the secession of the members of the Union, can be supplied.' 
 
 " On the motion of Thomas Maudslay, Esq., seconded by George 
 Bovill, Esq.: — 
 
 " ' 4. That while this meeting would, in the spirit of candour and 
 friendly remonstrance, admonish the authors of the manifesto of the 
 pernicious consequences of its enforcement to their own order, the 
 employers here present, and such others as shall adhere to these 
 resolutions, take this earliest opportunity of announcing that, solely 
 as a measure of self-defence, and a protection to their independent 
 workmen, they will, in the event of the hands of any establishment 
 in London, Manchester, or elsewhere, going out on strike, or other- 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, i^c. 181 
 
 wise enforcing the demands of the Amalgamated Society on the 31st 
 December, 1851, or at any subsequent period, entirely close their 
 establishments on the 10th day of January, 1852, or within one 
 week after such other period respectively, until the causes which 
 have rendered this step necessary shall have been removed to the 
 satisfaction of the Executive Committee to be hereinafter named.' 
 
 '■ On the motion of John Penn, Esq. seconded by John Scott 
 Russell, Esq.: — 
 
 " ' 5. That the persons present at this meeting do form themselves 
 into, and are hereby constituted, a Society, to be called the Central 
 Association of Employers of Operative Engineers, &c. for the pur- 
 pose of carrying the foregoing resolutions into effect.' 
 
 " On the motion of G-eorge Rennie, Esq., seconded by C. E. Amos, 
 Esq.:— 
 
 " ' 6. That John Scott Russell, Thomas Maudslay, Joshua Field, 
 John Penn, George Rennie, Richard Ravenhill, John Seaward, 
 Bryan Donkin, jun., Henry G-rissell, C. E. Amos, John Blyth, Joel 
 Spiller, and George Bovill, Esqs., together with the Chairman and 
 Treasurer, with power to add to their number, be elected the Execu- 
 tive Committee of this Association, to adopt all steps necessary to 
 effect its objects and its permanent establishment, for the purpose of 
 watching over the interests and guarding the mutual rights of em- 
 ployers and employed; and that it be instructed to convene an 
 adjourned meeting of this Association, and to report when it shall 
 see fit.' 
 
 " The thanks of the meeting were presented to the deputation from 
 Manchester, and also to Charles May, Esq., of the firm of Ransome 
 and May, for their attendance and the information they had afforded. 
 "By order of the meeting, 
 
 "Joshua Field, Chairman. 
 
 "On the motion of Richard Ravenhill, Esq., seconded by John 
 Penn, Esq.: — 
 
 " ' The thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Field for his able 
 conduct in the chair.' " 
 
 Thus matters stood at the end of the year 1851, — The members 
 of the Amalgamated Society pledged to leave the workshops at the 
 ■expiration of the regular day's work of ten hours, and not to accept 
 piecework after the 31st of December, — The members of the Masters' 
 Association pledged absolutely to close their establishments on the 
 10th of January, 1852, as well against non-society men and labourers 
 as against the members of the Amalgamated Society, if workmen in 
 the employment of any of their number should in any manner en- 
 deavour to enforce the demands of the Society. 
 
 So far as one can judge from published documents, it would seem 
 that the vigour and unanimity of the masters' proceedings took the 
 men by surprise. The most respected employers in the trade, as 
 well as the hard masters, had gone against them. The feeling of 
 these men was well expressed by Mr. Rennie in his speech at the 
 masters' meeting : — 
 
182 Account of the 
 
 "He was proud," lie said, "on this public occasion to acknowledge 
 the virtues and value of the artisans of this country. He for one 
 was not ashamed to acknowledge the debt of gratitude under which 
 they had laid him. He believed all masters of large experience had 
 been indebted for many useful suggestions and valuable ideas to their 
 men, and he deeply regretted the causes which had created estrange- 
 ment between them. It should not be, however, forgotten that the 
 men had taken the initiative in this act of aggression, and that self- 
 respect as well as prudence required that the masters should defend 
 themselves and peaceable hands from a dictation which was ruinous 
 to both." 
 
 The Executive Council therefore addressed a respectful communi- 
 cation to their employers on the subject of the practices of overtime 
 and piecework, and on the 30th of December called a public meeting 
 at the Hall of Commerce, Threadneedle Street, for the purpose of 
 discussing the present state of the iron trades and the position of the 
 Amalgamated Society in relation thereto. The chairman of this 
 meeting was the president of the Amalgamated Society, and the 
 ■ Executive Council then in the most public and formal manner ex- 
 plained their proceedings ; declared that their demands were strictly 
 confined to the two mentioned in the Circular of November 24th 
 (viz. overtime and piecework) ; denied any intention to strike on 
 1st of January, and offered to refer the whole dispute to independent 
 arbitrators. 
 
 This moderation unfortunately came too late. Although all the 
 masters had been invited by circular to attend the meeting, none of 
 them were present, and no notice of the oifer of arbitration was taken 
 by the Masters' Association. Accordingly, on the 1st of January, 
 1851, the men left the shops at the end of the regular day's work, 
 and on the 10th the members of the Masters' Association closed their 
 establishments, and 3,500 members of the Amalgamated Society, 
 about 1,500 skilled workmen, not members of the Society, and some 
 10,000 labourers, were at once thrown completely out of employment. 
 
 Now that the war had fairly broken out, the method of carrying 
 it on adopted by the Masters' Association presented a marked con- 
 trast to that of the Amalgamated Society. The different constitu- 
 tions of the two bodies may probably in a great degree account for 
 the diflference. 
 
 The masters appointed a paid Secretary, Mr. Sidney Smith, 
 who every now and then addressed letters to the public papers, 
 and managed to embitter the quarrel more and more. They also 
 published a "representation of the case of the Central Association 
 of Employers," a copy of which is appended. But from the day of 
 the closing of the workshops, the Masters' Association, as a body, 
 no longer courted publicity. They had a very arduous contest on 
 their hands, and set to work to fight it out in their own way, silently 
 and sternly. 
 
 The only other official document (so far as I know) emanating 
 from the Masters' Association, which came to light during the 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, S^c. 183 
 
 struggle, was a cii'cular which was intended for members only. It 
 was published by the Amalgamated Society, who obtained a copy 
 of it. They also published with it an appeal to the trades and the 
 public ; copies of these documents will be found in the Appendix. 
 
 It will be seen at once from these documents how bitter the strife 
 had become. It is not my business to comment on them. 
 
 On one other occasion only did the proceedings of the Masters' 
 Association become public. I wish that I could in fairness to all 
 parties pass over the circumstance, as it proves that some of the 
 masters were using utterly unjustifiable means to secure a victory. 
 On the 18th of February, 1852, Mr. Samuel Fielden, in a letter to 
 the Times, speaking of the demand of dismissing labourers from the 
 machines, wrote, " The fact is, this is an invention contrived to in- 
 jure the cause of the men, particularly in the eyes of other employers. 
 It was only the other day that a deputation of masters urged it to 
 a meeting of railway directors, of whom I was one, as a reason now 
 existing why we should put our railway mechanics on short time, 
 and so disable them from subscribing to the relief of the 60,000 
 persons whom the masters had reduced to want. Upon being 
 taxed with the falsehood, however, they were obliged to withdraw 
 their statement." 
 
 The Amalgamated Society, on the other hand, courted publicity 
 in every way ; they held constant public meetings in London, Man- 
 chester, and Oldham, and published many resolutions, appeals, and 
 declarations, so that the difficulty in this part of the case is to select 
 the most important documents and facts. 
 
 In the first week after the lock-out, the Amalgamated Society 
 issued an appeal to their own trade and the public, on behalf of the 
 non-society men and labourers who had been turned out. This docu- 
 ment is full of confidence ; a quotation from it will be enough to 
 show its spirit. "The members of the Amalgamated Society," it 
 says, " are to a great extent able to support themselves by their own 
 exertions, their own funds, and the support of their own members, 
 but they feel that their cause is identified with that of the non- 
 society men and the less skilled labourers, and their sympathies 
 forbid them to leave these men to become the victims of an oppres- 
 sion directed mainly against themselves." 
 
 The answer to this appeal, which was largely circulated, was a 
 subscription, amounting in the whole to £4,034 7*. id. from private 
 persons. The Society during the strike, paid to the non-society 
 men and labourers £7,767 13s. Qd., being upwards of £3,700 more 
 than the subscription. The balance was taken out of the subscrip- 
 tions which other trades' societies sent to the Executive Council for 
 the Amalgamated Society. These last amounted in the whole to 
 £4,899 15*. M. 
 
 The Executive Council certainly gained in public estimation by 
 their conduct towards the labourers, but they soon found the addi- 
 tional burden a great incumbrance to them. Some of the men whom 
 they were trying to help were dissatisfied that more was not done for 
 
184 Account of the 
 
 them, and grumbled that they were not put on the same footing as 
 the Society men. There was much correspondence on the subject 
 in the papers, which I think need not be brought to light again. 
 
 In these first days, besides jDublishing the appeal, the Council de- 
 clared publicly that they were about to start workshops of their own, 
 and to expend their funds in hand on this object. They proposed 
 to levy enough on their members still in work to support those 
 thrown out, without touching the funds in hand. This plan, how- 
 ever, was soon abandoned. It was not a time for starting workshops, 
 and the funds were very soon wanted for donations to their own 
 members. Several shops, however, were started by the men, in 
 most cases on borrowed funds. Those in the London districts, so 
 far as I know, have all failed, some of them after having succeeded 
 well for years. I am informed that in the Lancashire district several 
 have succeeded. 
 
 Then came several unsuccessful attempts to get the dispute re- 
 ferred to arbitration (in one of which I was myself concerned). The 
 particulars do not seem to be worth stating. The offer came from 
 the Executive Council, who, no doubt, were surprised by the mag- 
 nitude of the struggle, and were already anxious as to the i-esult, 
 and ready to accept any reasonable extrication. The masters con- 
 sistently refused all compromise. 
 
 On the 24th, the masters' resolutions containing "the declaration" 
 were published, and the indignation which they excited carried the 
 men nearly through February. In fact, there were no signs of flag- 
 ging till some weeks after the allowance of the men out of work had 
 been reduced from 15*. to 10s. 
 
 Notwithstanding the repeated assertions of the Executive Council 
 as to the demands which the Society had made on their employers, 
 so many mis-statements were still circulated on the subject, that the 
 Council, on the 2nd of February, 1852, published a formal declara- 
 tion, with the view, if possible, of setting themselves right on this 
 point. This declaration was put forth by the Council, " publicly to 
 declare what they have done, and publicly to deny what they have not 
 done." It is appended to this paper, and should be read with the 
 masters' statement of their case (also appended) by all who wish to 
 understand this particular contest. 
 
 The masters had all opened their workshops again early in Feb- 
 ruary, though few of them I believe did much business. They ad- 
 mitted all men who would sign the declaration, and great exertions 
 were made through February and March, by the one side to get men 
 to work, by the other to hinder them from going to work. When I 
 say to hinder, I do not mean that forcible methods were employed, 
 as had been too often the case in former strikes and locks-out. The 
 Executive Council from the first set their faces so decidedly against 
 all such practices, that notwithstanding the exasperation produced 
 by the " declaration," I do not suppose there ever was a struggle of 
 the sort so wholly free from anything like intimidation. At this dis- 
 tance of time I may possibly have forgotten the facts, but I do not 
 
Loch-out of Engineers, ^c, 185 
 
 Temember, nor is there any allusion in the papers before me to a 
 single proved case of improper interference on the part of the 
 men turned out with those who choose to go to work. Whatever 
 one may think of the spirit in which the struggle was commenced by 
 the Amalgamated Society, or of their demands, they are fully entitled 
 to praise on this point. 
 
 In the middle of March it was becoming evident that the Amalga- 
 mated Society could not hold out much longer. The rumours which 
 had been so rife for the first two months, that the masters were 
 divided, that they were about to yield, &c., had ceased altogether. 
 It was only a dogged resolution to stand out till the last against " the 
 declaration " which kept the men from going in. By the end of 
 March the Executive Council virtually gave up the contest, and the 
 members were allowed to go back to work on the best terms they 
 could get. 
 
 The 30th of March, 1852, must have been a bitter day for the 
 men of the Manchester district, who had been foremost in the whole 
 business. On that day a deputation from them waited upon the 
 Association of Employers, and sent up the following letter: — 
 
 " To the Association of Employers, Sfc. 
 
 "Gentlemen, — The Manchester District Committee agree to 
 withdraw the Circular issued by our Executive Council, dated 
 November 24th, 1851, and the Circular emanating from a meeting 
 held in Carpenters' Hall, October 2nd, 1851, on condition that you 
 withdraw the declaration. 
 
 " If the above proposition meet your approbation, and the ground 
 is clear, we suggest the following propositions for your consideration. 
 First, to work piecework on a mutual principle between employer 
 and employed. Secondly, to work overtime when necessary, and to 
 be paid for so working at the rate of time and quarter for the first 
 two hours, time and a half for the next two hours, and double time 
 for every hour worked afterwards. 
 
 " The deputation is waiting to appear before the Association, or 
 to answer any question that may be put to them on behalf of the 
 workmen. 
 
 " Gentlemen, yours respectfully, 
 
 " William Hemm, Sec." 
 
 The Employers' Association would not admit the deputation, but 
 sent down the following answer : — 
 
 " Association of Employeks op Engineers, &c. 
 " 3, Ckoss Street, Manchester, 
 
 " March 30th, 1852. 
 " SiE, — We are instructed by the Executive Committee of the 
 Employers' Association to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 
 this day, and, in reply, to say that the Committee cannot enter into 
 any compromise whatever. 
 
 " They are strongly opposed to aU combinatiojis, whether of mas- 
 ters or workmen, and they must remind you that they were forced into 
 the present one by the aggressive acts of your and other societies; 
 
186 Account of the 
 
 and until all the objectionable rules, demands and bye-laws of such- 
 societies are unconditionally rescinded and witlidrawn, and the un- 
 questionable right of every employer to make what arrangements 
 and engage what workmen he pleases is fully recognised, the Com- 
 mittee do not feel justified in recommending the Association to re- 
 scind any resolution which they have thought necessary to adopt. 
 " We are, Sir, your very obedient Servants, 
 
 " EicHAEDsoN & Whitwoeth, Sees. 
 
 " Mr. W. Hemm, Secretary, 
 
 " Manchester Branch of the Amalgamated Society." 
 
 After this no further propositions were (I believe) made to the 
 Employers' Association in either of the districts, and by the end of 
 April almost all the men had got back to work. The saddest part 
 of the whole story to my mind remains. It is very diificult to ascer- 
 tain the facts, but I fear that almost all the masters insisted on " the 
 declaration," and it was signed by large numbers of the men who 
 did not leave, and never meant to leave, the Amalgamated Society. 
 It is true that the bread of their families depended on their getting 
 back to work, and one may suggest many other excuses. But they 
 are excuses for that which is inexcusable. 
 
 The cost of the lock-out to the Amalgamated Society has been cal- 
 culated at different sums. The generally received sum is £42,000; 
 but I find that according to the financial statements published by 
 order of the delegates' meeting at Grlasgow, the exact cost in cash 
 was £35,459 Qs. 9d. But it must be remembered that the usual ex- 
 penses of the Society were running, such as sick, benefit, superannua- 
 tion and funeral allowances, &c. The total expenditure for the half- 
 year ending June 30th, 1852, was £50,885 12s. 2d. To these sums 
 should be added the amount of wages lost by the men during their 
 three months of idleness, before we can fairly estimate the cost to 
 the work-people only. 
 
 A considerable number of men emigrated sooner than sign " the 
 declaration." Many of these had to borrow the money for their 
 passage out. One gentleman advanced considerably more than £1,000 
 to a number of these men who were going to Australia, on their 
 simple bond. The whole sum and interest has been repaid. 
 
 The consequence of this emigration has been, that the Society has 
 now branches at Sydney, in Australia; at Montreal, in Canada; and 
 at Hamilton, Toronto, and Brantford, in Upper Canada. 
 
 The efiect of the strike upon the Amalgamated Society was, per- 
 haps, not so great as one would have anticipated. It is true that, in 
 June, 1852, the Society's balance had fallen from £21,705 4s. Hid. to 
 £1,721 Os. lid., but the funds rapidly recovered themselves towards 
 the end of the year, and the balance of the Society had risen on new 
 year's eve to about £5,500. A more serious danger seemed to be 
 threatening about this time. The number of members was falling 
 off rapidly. In June, 1852, they were 1 1,617, on the 31st of Decem- 
 ber only 9,737. Nevertheless the Society was never seriously 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, Sfc. 187 
 
 shaken, so far as one can judge from published records, for in this 
 very year of 1852, eight new branches were established, and notwith- 
 standing the trial which it had so lately passed through, and the 
 consequent state of exhaustion of most of the members, the fines 
 and payments were never relaxed. 
 
 It is an instructive piece of reading, for any one who believes that 
 trades' societies can be put down at this time of day, the Report of 
 the Amalgamated Society for 1852, with its ten closely printed pages 
 of excluded members, the cause of exclusion, in nine cases out often at 
 least, being simply for arrears. The present position of the Society 
 may be estimated from the fact, that in 1858 it distributed £47,368 
 in benefits to its members, and had yet a balance of nearly £30,000 
 at the year's end. The number of members is now upwards of 
 17,000. 
 
 I have added a table, which will show the efiect of the strike 
 on the finances and numbers of the Amalgamated Society, and its 
 progress since 1852. The fact that after such a struggle this Society 
 has continued to exist and flourish wholly unrecognised by the law 
 of the country, and yet carrying on minute financial operations all 
 over the United Kingdom and in the colonies, extending year by 
 year its influence and operations, and claiming and obtaining obe- 
 dience to its rules from a body of 17,000 of the most skilful artisans 
 in the world, ought to make all reasonable people pause before they 
 accept the current belief as to trades' societies. For, be it remem- 
 bered, this Amalgamated Society is only one of many. 
 
 For my own part, after years of watching these Societies, and dis- 
 liking many of their doctrines and doings as much as any man, I am 
 most firmly convinced that we are only mischievously shutting our 
 eyes to the truth when we go on declaring that they have not the 
 confidence of the body of the mechanics and artisans of the nation — 
 that they are got up and led, not by good workmen, but by designing 
 and idle men for their own purposes — that they exercise an unpopu- 
 lar tyranny and surveillance over the trades, &c. &c. The contrary 
 of all this is the truth, and will be found to be so sooner or later ; 
 though it is quite possible that here and there a mischievous man 
 may be in office, or a tyrannical custom or rule in force. I believe 
 that there is quite time (if we will only recognise the facts of the case, 
 and treat the Unions both in legislation and in the ordinary dealings 
 of life as they have a right to be treated) to [render their influence 
 and action wholly beneficial to the great common interests of the 
 nation. I believe that the present disastrous state of feeling between 
 employers and employed can never be improved, will only become 
 worse, while the Unions remain unrecognised by the law, and mis- 
 represented, hated, and feared by all classes of society except that 
 great one of which they are exclusively composed, and whose ideas 
 and wishes they do, on the whole, faithfully represent and carry out. 
 
188 
 
 Account of the 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 
 "o oi 
 
 
 
 
 ■s,- 
 
 
 |l 
 
 Income of 
 
 Expenditure of 
 
 Balance at 
 
 
 
 |i 
 
 the Y'ear. 
 
 the Year. 
 
 Christmas. 
 
 ii 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 g« 
 
 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 £ s. a. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 
 Year ending Dec. 31st, 1851 . . 
 
 11,829 
 
 22,807 8 84 
 
 13,324 19 Hi 
 
 21,705 4 Hi 
 
 121 
 
 Half-year ending June 30th, ) 
 1862 j 
 
 11,617 
 0,737 
 
 44,415 5 1 
 12,953 2 
 
 63,663 15 8 
 9,489 4i 
 
 1,721 11 
 r 5,382 1 3i| 
 
 122 
 
 129 
 
 Half-year ending Dec. 31st, ) 
 1852 J 
 
 
 
 
 [5,50411 7i3 
 
 
 Tear ending Dec. 31st, 1853 . . 
 
 10,757 
 
 26,639 9 5 
 
 14,331 4 5i 
 
 17,81216 7 
 
 141 
 
 Year ending Dec. 31st, 1854 . . 
 
 11,617 
 
 32,226 2 4 
 
 20,834 19 10 
 
 29,20219 1 
 
 156 
 
 Year ending Dec. 31st, 1855 . . 
 
 12,553 
 
 36,706 19 Si 
 
 29,314 18 lOi 
 
 35,695 1 11 
 
 166 
 
 Year ending Dec. 31st, 1866 . . 
 
 13,405 
 
 38,899 9 9| 
 
 31,386 13 6 
 
 43,20718 84 
 
 173 
 
 Year ending Dec. 31st, 1857 . . 
 
 14,299 
 
 42,822 10 3 
 
 38,103 14 C 
 
 47,947 4 10 
 
 179 
 
 Year ending Dec. 31st, 1858 . . 
 
 14,745 
 
 44,733 S Hi 
 
 62,326 18 Si 
 
 28,722 8 3 
 
 186 
 
 Note." 
 
 -Since Christmas, 1858, the numbers have rapidly increased, and there 
 are now upwards of 17,000 Members of the Society. 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 Declaration of the Executive Council of the Amalgamated Society. 
 
 " In consequence of the demands and intentions which have been attributed to 
 the Amalgamated Society, the Executive Council have thought it necessary pub- 
 licly to declare what they have done, and publicly to deny what they have not 
 done. 
 
 " They have not demanded the discharge of unskilled workmen. They have 
 not endeavoured to throw the skilled operative, not belonging to the Society, out 
 of work, nor have they ever recommended others to do so. Neither have they 
 countenanced a system of intimidation having that object. They do not seek 
 to fix or to equalize wages, but hold the doctrine that wages should be settled 
 by individual agreement. They do not endeavour to prevent the introduction of 
 machinery ; but by their skill and labour perfect and multiply it. 
 
 " They do not attempt to bring about any of those things ; but in their Circular 
 to the employers carefully limit themselves to the questions of overtime and 
 piecework. To these they still rigidly confine themselves, and they conceive that 
 the reasons for asking for the cessation of these practices are sufilcient to justify 
 them. 
 
 "They look upon overtime as both a privilege and an evil. A privilege, be- 
 cause it holds out to men an opportunity of making more money ; an evil, because 
 that money is made at the expense of their own health, strength, mental powers, 
 and happiness, as well as the welfare and independence of others. It is not the 
 first time in the world's history that a privilege has been an evil at once to those 
 whom it seemed to benefit, and those whom it evidently injured, but in whatever 
 light ' piecework and overtime ' are regarded, the members of the Amalgamated 
 Society, by u majority of more than nine thousand to a minority of less than 
 twenty, have expressed their wish to give them up, and abolish the systems. 
 
 " The reasons which prompted them to this may be shortly stated : — First, as 
 to ' systematic overtime,' a term meant to imply time regularly worked (over 
 and above the ten hours) from week to week, and from month to month, and in 
 many instances the whole year round, without intermission. They know it de- 
 prives them of rational enjoyment, prevents them from using opportunities for 
 culture, and weakens their physical powers. They feel that their wellbeing is 
 not a thing to be bought and sold for so many shillings a week. They contend 
 there is no necessity for it, because hundreds are begging to be allowed to take 
 their share of the work. Belonging to a society as they do, their overtime earn- 
 ings, or a portion of them, go to support those of their fellows whom that over- 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, SfC. 189 
 
 time keeps idle ; and, above all, they recognise the gross injustice of, by any 
 voluntary act of theirs, degrading men as competent and industrious as them- 
 selves, into dependents on the funds of the Association. 
 
 " With regard to piecework, they wish it to be fully understood that their 
 objections are to the system as it is, not as it ought to be. The Executive Council 
 will continue to oppose piecework as it is, for the following reasons : — The price 
 is arbitrarily fixed by the masters or middle-men, and often piece-masters or 
 sweaters are introduced, who take a portion of that price themselves ; thus 
 making the workman pay out of his wages for the cost of direction and manage- 
 ment. If the workman should, by dint of his own expertness and working very 
 hard, earn much more than an ordinary week's wages, the price which was arbi- 
 trarily fixed is as arbitrarily reduced for the profit of the manufacturer, who 
 refuses to pay the price originally agreed upon. This is done with the strongest 
 and most expert workmen, and the moderate in strength and ability are com- 
 pelled to work worse than slaves, for a comparatively miserable pittance. 
 
 " Besides these evils arising out of the general working of the system, there 
 are special wrongs connected with it, and of which many instances can be 
 produced. After a man has taken a job at a certain rate, if he should make at it 
 double an ordinary week's wages, the employers will not pay him. They tell 
 him they do not allow him to make so much money as that. Most of the manu- 
 facturers will not permit more than ' time and quarter,' none that we know of 
 will allow more than ' time and half to be paid at piecework. It may be neces- 
 sary to explain these terms to the public. They mean that if a man's ordinary 
 wages at day work be 30s. a week, the employer, no matter how hard the man 
 works, nor how much he does, will generally not pay him more than £\. Vis. 6(i., 
 never more than £2 5s. Od. ; and if the artisan, by superior skill, by his own 
 introduction of a new mode of working, or by increased toil, does more than 
 comes to that, he is compelled to forego the fair reward of his ingenuity and 
 industry. These evils are so general, and there not being any means of removing 
 them without abolishing the system, the members of the Amalgamated Society 
 have come to the conclusion that they will no longer be oppressed by them. 
 
 " It is submitted that such a system as this ought not to be tolerated, and 
 that all peaceable and legal means of resistance to it are justifiable. It should 
 be added too, that in what they have done the Executive Council act only upon 
 the expressed wish of their members, and they profess to exercise no control over 
 those who do not belong to their Society. 
 
 " The Executive Council feel that their justification might well stop here, but 
 there are questions not entering into the general dispute which are pressed upon 
 them, and to which they desire to give a frank answer. They are asked whether they 
 acknowledge the right of any employer to engage who he likes, and the right of 
 every industrious man to work at any honest calling that is open to him. They 
 answer that they do, but at the same time they also assert their right to refuse to 
 instruct any man in their trade, so that he might take their places at reduced 
 wages, or force them to accept a lower price. They are asked also how they dare 
 limit the right of the employer to take any number of apprentices. They answer 
 that if the employer will teach his apprentices, he may take as many as he pleases, 
 but they are called upon to do that, and they claim to say how many or how few 
 they will teach. Their skill is as much theirs as the employer's establishment, 
 his business, and his capital are his, and they claim a right to dispose of it or 
 communicate it according to rules which appear to them to be beneficial. The 
 Executive Council of the Amalgamated Society hope that this explanation of their 
 views and acts is sufficient to demonstrate that while they assert the rights of 
 their members, and endeavour to secure their welfare, they do not attack the just 
 claims or peril the prosperity of any other class. 
 
 " (By order of the Executive Council,) 
 
 " Jos. MusTO, President. 
 " Wm. Allan, Secretary. 
 " London, 25, Little Axie Street, Whitbchapel, 
 " Feh-uary 2, 1852." 
 
190 Account of the 
 
 APPENDIX III. 
 
 Representation of the Case of the Executive Committee of the Central Association of 
 Employers of Operative Engineers, ^c. 
 
 " On Saturday the establishments of all our members were closed. The con- 
 ditions of an honourable pledge to each other have been faithfully fulfilled ; and 
 masters and men, free of their mutual engagements, will be once more called 
 upon to settle the conditions of any new contract into which they may find it for 
 their reciprocal interest to enter. 
 
 "The step which we have adopted, with regret, made all the m,ore acute by a 
 sense of the hardship it will inflict upon the innocent and the deserving, entails 
 upon US all u, certain heavy loss. We are reluctantly reconciled to it by the 
 conviction, maturely weighed, and painfully arrived at, that our well-disposed 
 workmen had better patiently bear a present burden, than linger under a perma- 
 nent oppression -, and that we ourselves can only an-est the encroachments of 
 irresponsible dictation, and the gradual but certain progress of that spirit of 
 exaction to which we have already, from motives of conciliation, too easily 
 yielded (to the injury of our trade, and the certain ruin of the operatives, at 
 whose instance unwise concessions have been too readily made), by taking our 
 stand at once, and coming to a reckoning now and here. 
 
 "All we want is to be let alone. With less than that we shah. 
 
 NOT BE SATISFIED. UnTIL WE ACCOMPLISH THAT, WE SHALL NOT KE-OPEN 
 
 ouK ESTABLISHMENTS. With cvciy respect for noble and distinguished referees, 
 whose arbitration has been tendered to us, and with no reason to doubt that their 
 award would be honest, intelligent, and satisfactory, we must take leave to say 
 that we alone are the competent judges of our own business ; that we are respec- 
 tively the masters of our own establishments ; and that it is our Arm determina- 
 tion to remain so. To this principle we recognise no exceptions. We should as 
 little dream of permitting each other, as a common neutral stranger, to lay down 
 the rules by which we are respectively to manage our individual affairs. Ours 
 is the responsibility of the details ; ours the risk of loss ; ours the capital, its 
 perils, and its engagements. We claim, and are resolved to assert, the right of 
 every British subject, to do what we like with our own, and to vindicate the title 
 of our workmen to the same constitutional privilege. Artisans and their em- 
 ployers are respectively individuals — each legally capable of consent — each 
 severally entitled to contract. Our agreements for their service are made with 
 them, in their separate, not in their aggregate capacity. They have labour and 
 skill to sell ; we have capital to employ it, and to pay it. Who, then, or what, 
 should stand between these two single parties to a lawful bargain, and dictate to 
 the buyer what he should give, or control the seller in the conditions of his ser- 
 vice ? In the most literal sense we are the customers of the working classes ; and 
 the interference of self-constituted arbiters with the internal economy of our estab- 
 lishments is not less preposterous than would be a command from our balcer as to 
 the number or the price of loaves we should consume ; or a mandate from our 
 butcher as to when we should dine, and what should be the meat. We altogether 
 ignore the proposition that we should submit to arbitration the question, whether 
 our own property is ours, and whether we are entitled to be the masters of our 
 own actions. 
 
 "Our business renders us more obnoxious to strikes than any other, and 
 renders precautions against them more imperative. The heavy expense of our 
 machinery and tools, and the peculiar character of the work we produce, render 
 overtime, piecework and irregularity of employment an unavoidable and certain 
 incident of our calling. We cannot, like the spinner, the weaver, or the cloth- 
 worker, manufacture on speculation, and produce without order, certain that 
 ultimately the article will be required, and must always be in demand. The 
 same yarn will weave to any pattern, the same cloth will fit any coat ; — but we 
 can only produce to order, and we must produce our commodity when it is ordered. 
 Our customers require all their purchases for a special purpose, and at a par- 
 ticular time. Perhaps they are useless to them, unless supplied when stipulated 
 — certainly they will cease to employ us, if we fail to finish to our time. Belgium 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, ^c. 191 
 
 and Germany are not far off. Piedmont and Switzerland are qnite within com- 
 petitive distance. The United States begin to manufacture for themselves, and 
 even to meet us in neutral markets. France, hnt recently our largest customer, 
 is now our most formidable rival, and, in spite of her disadvantages in reference 
 to the raw material, almost entirely supplies her own demand. If we are to 
 enjoy an equality of advantages with our competitors in the common market of the 
 world, we must consent to bind ourselves to complete our contracts on a day 
 early, and certain. Short-sighted unionists, aware that we work against time, 
 some of us under actual penalties, all of us under peril of the loss of trade if we fail 
 in punctuality, induce the men, when the master is in' his greatest diffleulty, to 
 take advantage of his necessities to wring from him humiliating and unjust con- 
 cessions, which leave him without profit, or threaten him with loss. Afraid to 
 subject himself to the repetition of practices which present to him only the alter- 
 native betwixt heavy fines for failure of contracts, or loss of business-character, 
 and exorbitant remuneration for inferior skill, the master declines otherwise pro- 
 fitable orders, draws his operations narrower, and diminishes the demand for 
 labour ; and this dread, spreading generally through the trade, and too amply 
 justified by offensive interference, forced upon every master, induces a universal 
 disposition to decline the most valuable custom, and thereby seriously to depress 
 the business, and circumscribe the employment of the country. 
 
 "It will readily occur to all who have the slightest acquaintance with com- 
 merce, that production carried on almost entirely to order, and limited as to time 
 in its completion, cannot be conducted without overtime, in a great measure as 
 systematic as the punctuality of the time orders received — ^that as masters are 
 taxed from twenty-five to fifty per cent, more for the extra hours, when the service 
 is least valuable, nothing but necessity would induce them to adopt the practice — 
 that from the very nature of mechanical operations, which are almost as de- 
 pendent on each other, and as successive in their processes as the inanimate ma- 
 chinery they fabricate, the non-completion of one article may keep many persons 
 idle who are waiting to commence some department of machinery to which the 
 former is indispensable ; and that as the machinery and tools used in engineering 
 involve vast outlay of capital — the only option left to the employer is to work one 
 set of tools beyond the usual hours of labour, or to erect another set at an exorbi- 
 tant expense, which, even if it would serve the same purpose, which it could not, 
 must come out of the price of the work it executes ; in which case demand is 
 discouraged, and customers are, driven to foreign markets, and by their with- 
 drawal the demand for employment is destroyed.* 
 
 "It is under these circumstances that the employers in Lancashire and in 
 London have, by pre-concert, simultaneously received notice from the ostensible 
 representatives of 15,000 of our artisans, that ' they have come to a resolution to 
 abolish the practices of overtime and piecework ;' and in ' those cases where 
 overtime is really necessary, in cases of break-downs or other accidents, all time 
 so worked over, to be charged and paid at the rate of double time.' The true 
 intent and meaning of these conditions is this, — that where a master sustains the 
 heavy loss of breaking a highly expensive instrument, he shall, in addition to his 
 misfortune, be fined by our artisans double wages to repair it, although the earn- 
 ings of perhaps a thousand of their fellow-mechanics may depend on the immedi- 
 
 * Many illustrations will occur to the professional reader, of the impossibility of 
 procuring a substitute for, or dispensing with the use of overtime in a trade which 
 is so peculiarly dependent for orders on seasons and punctuality. Railway 
 engines must be supplied to time, to prevent the confasion of the whole public 
 arrangements ; and as the nature of the work will not admit of the access to it of 
 more than a certain number of hands, it is impracticable to avoid irregularity or 
 protraction of the hours of labour. Proprietors of steamers on the Shine, the 
 Thames, or the Clyde must have new steamboats ready before the travelling season, 
 else the profits they would earn would be lost, and the order, therefore, would not 
 be given, except under obligation to complete the vessels in proper time, which 
 may only be possible by working over-hours. Whole fleets of steamers may be 
 damaged by winter storms, and to despatch mails with punctuality, the repairs 
 must be pressed forward day and night. 
 
192 Account of the 
 
 ate resumption of its working. For the protection of our customers, tliere is no 
 sacrifice which we will not cheerfully bear, rather than submit to this extortion. 
 
 " Many of ourselves have traced their rise from the condition of the employed 
 to that of the employers to the opportunities afforded by piecework, which 
 enabled them to become small contractors, and thereby to avail themselves of the 
 rewards of their directing skill. As it is the faii-est and least fallible test of the 
 value of labour, and best enables the master to make his estimates with security, 
 so it is the line which measures off the expert and industrious workman from the 
 lazy and unskilful : and, above all, it is the lever by which patient merit and supe- 
 rior intelligence raises itself above the suiTounding level, and enables society to 
 reward and to profit by mechanical genius, and energy, as well as respectability of 
 character. All classes, in nearly every avocation, have occasionally to work over- 
 time — the Prime Minister perhaps the most — the successful physician or the 
 greatest lawyer the most slavishly. But men of any merit voluntarily set the task 
 to themselves — those of the mechanic class earnestly desire it ; and so far is either 
 that or piecework from being regarded as an oppression, our experience as 
 masters is, that in the eyes of mechanics, as a body, it is viewed as a positive 
 objection to an establishment that it does not afford opportunity for working over- 
 time. The real objection to piecework, we fear, is, that it protects the masters 
 against those who are indisposed to give a fair day's work for a fair day's wages. 
 
 " Another requisition has been served upon the Lancashire employers, which 
 has not upon the present occasion been extended to those of London. A demand 
 has been made for the dismissal of labourers from self-acting machines, and the 
 substitution of mechanics, at higher wages, to perform operations in which no 
 skill can be exerted ; although, to suit the purposes of those who issued this im- 
 perious edict, it is now disclaimed. The signature of 'W. Newton' to the notice 
 on Messrs. Hibbert and Piatt, and of ' W. Hemm ' to that left with Messrs. Parr, 
 Curtis, and Madely, which can be supported by many other cases, render the 
 renegation a mere wanton act of purposeless, because abortive, misrepi'esentation. 
 
 " These extraordinary interpositions of self-constituted dictators of the rules 
 which are to guide the management of our establishments, have indeed been per- 
 petrated on the plea of progressive philanthropy, and a desire for moral improve- 
 ment ; but a reference to the ' Rules and Regulations of the Amalgamated 
 Society,' by whose interference they have been preferred, strips this pretext of 
 every claim to any other character than that of very clumsy, because ill-concealed, 
 hypocrisy. Prefaced by the very becoming, but scarcely very apposite sentiment, 
 that ' All men are brethren,' and followed up by the very much more appropriate 
 aphorism for a conspiracy and combination against individual rights and liberty 
 of action, 'United we stand, divided we fall, ' it observes, ' If we should be con- 
 strained to make kesteictions against encroachments on our interests by those 
 who have not earned a right by a probationary servitude^ we do so, knowing that such 
 encroachments are productive of such awful consequences to a trade, if left un- 
 checked. It is our duty, then, to exercise the same control over that in which we 
 have a vested interest, as the physician who holds his diploma, or the author 
 who is protected by his copyright.' After proposing a ' well-regulated organiza- 
 tion to prevent surplus labour in OUE teade ' — a hint that the great iniiuence of the 
 associates ' must be used for our members,' — that those only who support them will 
 be supported, and that all independent workmen who do not belong to the Society 
 will find themselves in an ' isolated position ' (which, in the Annual Report of 
 20th December, is by implication made to mean virtually that every vacancy in 
 any establishment shall be filled up only by Society men), the following extract 
 lays bare the whole secret springs and governing principles of the present 
 movement. 
 
 " Rule XXIII. 
 
 " 1st. Systematic overtime and its discontinuance. 2nd. Piecework, &c. 
 
 " Sect. 1. That, in order to secure to our mehbebs a general prospect of employ- 
 ment, we repudiate ' systematic overtime ' as being the cause of much evil, through 
 giving a number the peivilege of working more than a legitimate week's time, 
 whilst doing so deprives other members of situations, producing much domestic 
 misery, and causing a great expenditure of the Society's funds. We therefore 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, SfC. 193 
 
 authorize the Executive Council to talie steps for its immediate discontinuance by 
 ... issuing! a general order for all districts simultaneously to adopt this resolu- 
 tion. Ant membee, kepusino to comply with this eesolution bendbbs 
 
 HIMSELF LIABLE TO BE EXCLUDED." 
 
 On the platform it was convenient to represent the abolition of overtime as an 
 emancipation from oppression. In the rule, it is honestly described as a "privi- 
 lege." In the addi-esses to the employers, it is called for as an eager aspiration of 
 mechanics, anxious for their moral progress, and mental improvement. In the 
 code of the Society, it is demanded as a means to equalise the market of employ- 
 ment, or in other words, the wagea of \a,hovii, and to save the Society's funds ; a, 
 motive we had understood to be too sordidly commercial, and partaking too 
 deeply of the " mere Manchester school of cold blooded political economy," to 
 weigh with the Executive Council. 
 
 The second section of this chapter of the regulations very plainly asserts every 
 principle or object which the Council find it now convenient to disclaim. 
 
 "Sect. 2. That the same steps" (that is a peremptory order, to be obeyed 
 under pain of expulsion, and forfeiture of deposits) " be taken to abolish piecework, 
 to destroy the practice of working more than one lathe or machine, to prevent a greater 
 number of apprentices OE admissions into our trade than are likely to find employ- 
 ment therein — apprentices to be in proportion of one to four journeymen — and to 
 assimilate the number of working hours in each district, so that ... if circum- 
 stances require a further reduction of the hours of labour, such maybe accomplished ;" 
 and it has only to be added, that by rule 36th, " Any member divulging anything 
 relating to the Society's business, except to a member or members, shall be fined 
 2s 6d." in order to complete the exposition of the true nature of this conspiracy of 
 many enthusiasts and some impostors to betray the unsuspecting artisan into the 
 conversion of a benefit club into a secret society, its objects into those of realizing 
 a " New Moral World," the " organization of labour," and an experiment of the 
 dreams of Louis Blanc, embracing the visions of Owen, without their catholicity, 
 and the extravagance of Fourrier, leavened with a selfishness of which his benevolence 
 would have been ashamed. 
 
 " All this, however, is but the final development of action upon a settled system, 
 by the selfsame parties, which took its rise about the period of the outburst of the 
 French Revolution of 1848, in a Central Committee of Operative Engineers, which 
 was merged in and amalgamated with the present Society. 
 
 " In a letter from W. Davenport, then secretary of that body, dated the 30th of 
 November, 1848, to an eminent firm, he very coolly thus interposes his voluntary 
 authority : — ' It having been represented to us, by some of your workmen, that 
 
 certain persons are employed as engine-fitters in your manufactory at , 
 
 who have not served a legal apprenticeship to the trade ; this practice, most of your 
 workmen employed there think, would be abolished if you were made acquainted 
 with it, so ALSO DOES THE COMMITTEE ; (!) as We feel sure that you will see the 
 injustice of employing or training up men to a business, when others who have spent a 
 portion of their lives serving an apprenticeship, with the hope of getting a livelihood 
 thereby, are now in want of employ,' and for whom, the only legitimate conclusion is,. 
 the writer requires room to be made at the expense of the dismissal of others. 
 
 " On the Ist of December, 1848, the same Committee address their employers; 
 on 'systematic overtime,' as 'enabling a few to monopolize more than a fair- 
 proportion of labour, whilst others are perambulating the streets, wanting such 
 labour . . . and the more equally labour can be distributed amongst labourers,, 
 is their condition made more consonant with comfort and happiness." So far- 
 from the practice being regarded as oppressive or demoralizing, the address takes 
 credit for the greatest ' disinterestedness of a many, expressed in this their desire- 
 to sacrifice some portion of their present earnings in favour of workmen more un- 
 fortunate than themselves.' 
 
 " On the 23d of August, 1849, the hands of another firm, headed by the Chair- 
 man of the Executive Council, demanded a rise of wages, 'as the generality of 
 the trade in this district are seriously dissatisfied at our continuing under such 
 disadvantages ;' and on the 29th, Mr. W. Newton, and a deputation from the 
 Central Committee, asked an interview on the subject. On the same day, W, 
 
 o 
 
194 Account of the 
 
 Newton, Secretary, posts printed notiees ihrougliout the country, ' advising 
 workmen not to accept situations, if offered, unless 33s. per week be guaranteed 
 
 at least, in consequence of a dispute respecting wages at Messrs. ,' and on 
 
 the 1st of September, W. Newton, Secretary, calls a public meeting at bis own 
 taTem, the Phcenix, to ' advise workmen from the country not to be allm-ed by 
 the offer of employment.' 
 
 " On September 29th, he reports that the Committee advised 's ' workmen 
 
 to ask for more money,' — '■ all did so, and left;' 'but we are sorry to complain of 
 four or five individuals who refused to follow that simple advice. ... Of course, 
 no further confidence could be placed in them, and from that time they were meom- 
 more treated with, hut left to the dictates of their own evil wishes. . . . The following 
 week oui' advice extended to the whole of the workmen who were receiving 30s. and 
 under, that they should ask for more money — without any inquiry whatever, whether 
 they were worth more or not. 
 
 " ' In order to ascertain lohat wages were paid them, we requested them to meet "as 
 on the Saturday evening, and present their tickets for ocr inspection. . .. We 
 found about am equal number at 32s. and 33«., and one at 30s. ; our advice then 
 was still in accordance with oui' first decision, that those under 33s. should ask 
 for more, the first thing on Monday morning, and if they did not get it to leave. 
 . . . Our trade will know how to draw -a distinction betwixt those who honour- 
 ably stand up for its interest and support, and those who receive a rise o/ wages as 
 a bribe /or their opposition to its wishes' 
 
 " What the penalty is of ' opposition to the wishes' of the heptarchy reipmg 
 at Little Alie Street, Whitechapel, may be learnt from the converse of obsequious 
 submission. Their report of 20th December ordains that, 'In all districts there 
 is a duty incumbent on all memeeks in employment, to use their influence in ihek- 
 respective workshops in favour of members out of employment. ... If our recom- 
 mendations are adhered to, and om- members are active and energetic in all their 
 TEADE proceedings, we shall soon still further improve our condition, and mate 
 our Society the real rulen- of the destinies of our trade.' Couple this ' advice' "vrtfch 
 the Rules, which fine every member who, within twelve hours after hnowimg 
 of or making a vacancy, fails to give notice of it to the Secretary (see ' List of Fines'), 
 for seeking work before applying to the Secretary, or for not calling every day om 
 the Secretary, and it will be obvious that if the foremen, who generally have the 
 engagement of hands, belong (as they not seldom do) to the Society, no man who 
 ' opposes the wishes' of the Executive Council has the slightest chance of any 
 engagement. That this great ' organization of labour' and system of dictation 
 and espionage may be reduced to the most perfect method, the ' members' in every 
 factory have sent to them printed forms of returns, to be made periodically to the 
 Secretary, entitled 'From the Central Committee of Engineers, &c., of London 
 and its vicinity. Schedule for collecting statistical information. M. Shop,' with 
 columns headed 'Name,' 'Profession, — whether fitter, turner, erector, pattern- 
 maker, or smith.' 'What society do you belong to?' 'Whether you ev«r 
 worked at this shop before, and what was the last date ?' ' What wages you now 
 receive ? ' ' What wages yon received when here before ?' Such a form, regularly 
 filled up, with answers to the queries given in the proper columns, is in our pos- 
 session. It discloses the private particulars of a firm's business, with the history 
 and position of its artisans, and these, from every shop, inspected by the Executii>& 
 Council, are all that are required to enable them to set their mark upon every 
 man, and every master -; to pick out those who are paid less than others (because 
 they are loorth less), cajole them to join the Society, force them to withdraw fi'om 
 their employment, and foster and foment discontent between employers and em- 
 ployed, wherever a weaik point or a stupid or inferior workman affords the hope of 
 suocessfnl mutiny. In the Report of 1st October, 1849 much self-credit is taken 
 for having tampered with the hands of Swayne and Bovill, for administering 
 the customary deputation on them, withdrawing their hands, and nursing the dis- 
 content of those who apparently did not discover that they were unhappy, untQ 
 told by the committee. Messrs. Cope and Sherwin, and Mr Mitcham, of Green- 
 wich, are patronisingly praised for having kissed the rod of these alguazils of 
 industry. The 'South Western Railway Aop,' Mr. Horn, of Whitechapel, Mr. 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, ^-c. 
 
 195 
 
 Wood, of the Strand, the ' Stratford Railway shop,' are named as the victims of 
 their domiciliary visits. Messrs. England, of Old Kent Eoad, and Mr. Fletcher, 
 of Southwark, are also mentioned as falling before the might and majesty of the 
 
 deputation. Of ' 's men who heeded not the advice of the committee,' it is 
 
 very significantly asked ' whether, even taken as a matter of advantage, it is well 
 to offend a whole trade for the purpose of subserving the interest of such an em- 
 ployer ? . . . Punishment must and will follow, by the odium which falls wpon 
 
 the character of men so acting Their character and conduct, of course, 
 
 is before the trade .... the opinions have been most severe on these men.' 
 Thus pointed at in the Report of December, 1849, marked out for the ' odium' of 
 the trade, which artisans know, by bitter experience, means unceasing efforts to 
 throw and keep the offenders out of employment, and to compromise even their 
 personal safety, it can surprise no one that the Report of February, 1850, 
 announces, with triumph, that ' the Manchester Society, to which they belonged, 
 have recently called an aggregate meeting of their members in the district, and 
 passed a resolution, excluding them from tlmt Society, and all participation in its 
 
 " In dismissing the narrative part of these Reports, it has only to be added, 
 that in that of 24th November, 1851, the Executive Council came to the Resolu- 
 tions as to overtime, piecework, and double wages, announced in their address 
 to their employers ; and also declared — ' 3rd, That all time worked after half- 
 past five or six o'clock in the evening, and before six o'clock in the morning, be 
 considered overtime, excepting Saturday, when overtime commences from the 
 termination of the usual day.' By this edict, overtime is made to signify not a 
 surplus over a day's work, but the period after a certain hour of the evening ; so 
 that if a mechanic came to his work at one o'clock in the day, he would be entitled 
 to get double wages for making up at night the time that he had lost by his own 
 impunctuality in the morning. To borrow the striking observations of Messrs. 
 Charles Walker and Sons, ' We are sorry that a Society, whose views of amelio- 
 rating the condition of their own body, as set forth in their address, must be ad- 
 mired, should also attempt to take advantage of the employer when he cannot 
 help himself, in " break-downs" and accidents, by charging " double time" for all 
 his labour in assisting him out of his difficulty — wlien all is loss to make it greater, by 
 not agreeing to set the mangled limb unless they are paid double. We hope, if there 
 be nothing exjiunged from their " address," at least they will have the good taste 
 and good feeling to remove this clause.' 
 
 " The financial appendices to these Reports afford revelations even more signi- 
 ficant than the text. In juxtaposition, we place extracts from the accounts of 
 payments and subscriptions : — 
 
 Expenditure. 
 
 Paid Mr. Flewitt, who was 
 withdrawn from Messrs. 
 Swayne and Bovill's . . 
 
 Ditto, Mr. James, engineer. 
 
 Ditto, Mr. Hemming . . 
 
 Ditto, Mr. Ravish . . 
 
 Ditto, Mr. Ashton . . . 
 
 Ditto, Mr. Roser .... 
 
 Ditto, Mr. James . . 
 
 Ditto, Mr. Vine .... 
 
 Paid to Blyth's men . . 
 
 Paid to men withdrawn from 
 South-Western Railway. 
 
 Total expenditure of Blyth's 
 and South-Western . , 
 Paid men withdi'awn 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 9 5 
 
 2 
 
 5 13 
 
 8 
 
 3 12 
 
 
 
 9 18 
 
 
 
 4 i 
 
 
 
 5 2 
 
 
 
 4 4 
 
 
 
 6 12 
 
 
 
 161 3 
 
 10 
 
 99 19 
 
 6 
 
 669 6 
 
 11 
 
 124 16 
 
 4 
 
 Income. 
 
 Subscriptions received from 
 the men in the employ- 
 ment of Swayne & Bovill 
 Ditto ditto 
 
 Ditto ditto 
 
 d. 
 
 1 15 6 
 14 
 10 
 
 Blyth's smiths . . . 
 Ditto fitters' turners 
 Ditto, pattern-makers 
 Ditto, smiths . . . 
 Ditto, hammermen . 
 Ditto ditto . . . 
 South-Western Railway 
 Miller's new turnery 
 Ditto, erecting shop . 
 Ditto, old turnery 
 Ditto, smiths . . . 
 
 10 
 2 8 6 
 13 
 17 
 
 6 5 
 4 8 
 4 6 
 2 13 
 o2 
 
196 
 
 Account of the 
 
 EXPEKDITUKE. 
 
 Paid Mr. Simmonds, with- 
 drawn ft'om Messrs. Mil- 
 ler's 
 
 Ditto, Mr. Potts .... 
 
 Ditto, Mr. Simmons, Messrs 
 Miller 
 
 Paid Mr. Burrows, who wag 
 discharged from Horn's, 
 Whitechapel. . . 
 
 Ditto, Mr. Wickstead, ditto 
 
 Ditto, Mr. Burrows, ditto . 
 
 Paid to James Clark, dis- 
 charged from Stratford 
 Railway Station . . 
 
 Ditto, Mr. Harrison, smith 
 
 Ditto Mr. Clark, ditto . 
 
 Ditto, Mr. Stokes, with 
 drawn from Robinson's. 
 Isle of Dogs . . . 
 
 Ditto, Mr. Wray, ditto . 
 
 Deputations to Meetings and 
 Employers .... 
 
 Deputations to Employers 
 
 Deputations .... 
 
 Deputations .... 
 
 Paid Pioquets . . . 
 
 Paid Pioquets, Stkateord 
 
 Paid Pioquets, Bltth's 
 
 Paid Pioquets, South- 
 western Railway . . 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 21 19 
 3 4 
 
 6 
 
 
 12 1 
 
 4 
 
 6 6 
 15 
 9 18 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 15 
 9 17 
 7 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 14 
 6 6 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 6 14 
 
 21 11 
 
 1 12 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 12 
 
 4 4 
 
 6 
 6 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 4 19 
 
 
 
 Income. 
 
 Ditto, fitting . . . . 
 Ditto, pattern-makers 
 Horn's, Whitechapel 
 Ditto ditto . . 
 
 Stratford Committee 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 Steam-engine makers 
 
 Robinson's . . 
 Ditto .... 
 Greenwich iron-works' Ap 
 
 PRENTICES . . . 
 
 Penn's Apprentices 
 Ditto ditto 
 
 Miller's Apprentices 
 Greenwich Committee 
 Southwark, ditto 
 East end, ditto 
 Woolwich, ditto 
 Stratford, ditto 
 Wolverton, ditto 
 Northfleet, ditto 
 Bradford, ditto 
 Leeds, ditto 
 Oldham, ditto 
 Brighton, ditto 
 Bolton, ditto . 
 Leek, ditto . . 
 Sheerness, ditto 
 Bridgewater, ditto 
 Smethwick, ditto . 
 
 d. 
 
 1 19 
 
 14 
 
 1 15 
 16 
 
 10 12 2 
 
 59 2 8 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 29 
 101 13 
 52 18 
 40 
 25 3 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 And nine other large towns, in all parts 
 of the kingdom ; and from the shops 
 of 100 metropolitan firms not enu- 
 merated. 
 
 " In a single year, this Amalgamated Society has added 10,000 to its members. 
 It will be seen that it draws voluntary eleemosynary subscriptions from every 
 quarter of the country, for the purpose of ' withdrawing ' men from their employers, 
 ' advising them that they have too little wages, and to demand more, on the 
 assurance that they will support them on strike, should they have the ' spirit ' to 
 ' ask for more.' It will also be marked with surprise and alarm, that a master's 
 own hands take his money, to apply it to swell the fund by which he is to be re- 
 duced to submission ; and that his own apprentices, bound by their indentures to 
 disclose everything to his hurt, and to render true and faithful service, are cor- 
 rupted by older heads and more crafty plotters to turn against their master. 
 
 " But this committee points with a deeper sense of regret and humiliation to the 
 charges in the foregoing account for ' picquets.' These are neither more nor less 
 than artisans, hired by voluntary subscription, to become spies upon their brother 
 mechanics — to dog their steps — to threaten, intimidate, and report to the central 
 inquisition, in Little Alie Street, Whitechapel, who, under the protection of that 
 rule of their institution which makes them a secret society, deal out their vengeance 
 upon recalcitrant masters and recusant workmen. From these un-English prac- 
 tices come those secret conspiracies which have been too often brought to light to 
 maim, or mm'der, sometimes even/oj- hire, those who do not implicitly obey the 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, S^c. 197 
 
 irresponsible cabal, who plot their mischiefs in security * ' Our gates,' observes 
 an eminent firm (30th September, 1849) ' have been watched daily, by four or five 
 persons, who have declared their object to be to persuade our men to leave, and 
 to prevent others applying to us for employment.' Other masters can speak to 
 the same appearances, and unfortunately, the well-disposed workmen themselves 
 much more frequently experience the thraldom of these 'picquets,' and quail 
 under the terror of their threats, until they are intimidated into the ranks they 
 would fain avoid. 
 
 " Such are a few of the facts which form the thread of this history of selflshness, 
 dictation, eavesdropping, and tyranny from its origin in the various unions, up 
 to its consummation in the Amalgamated Society, and those of their proceedings, 
 which have been the proximate cause of rendering this Association of Masters 
 essential to the protection of their well-disposed workmen, to the preservation of 
 their own rights, and to the vindication of the independence of both. 
 
 " A plan so deeply laid and steadily pursued, so extensively eliminated, and 
 widely supported, for making those combinations what those who conspire to 
 effect them call them, ' the ruler of the destinies of the trade,' must either be frus- 
 trated, and its authors subdued, or they will subdue us. Their organization and 
 machinery are so complete, their members are so vigilant, and their prin- 
 ciples are so captivating to a large class of inefficient or visionary workmen, 
 whose sole object is to solve the problem of procuring the greatest amount of 
 pay for the smallest quantity and worst quality of work, that they threaten to 
 enmesh and absorb the great mass of the operatives by that ' organization of 
 labour' which consists of an appropriation of every vacancy in employment to 
 their own body, a jealous exclusion from the common privileges of labour to all who 
 are not 'legal' members of their craft, and a vigilant tyranny over, and stringent 
 intimidation of, all who presume to indulge in the luxury of independence. 
 It will be seen that the shipwrights on the Wear are at this moment out on strike, 
 chiefly on the simple ground of their masters venturing to assert their right freely 
 to make their own contracts, and for refusing to dismiss their labourers and to 
 engage artisans to perform work that does not require skill. The evil, wide spread 
 and deeply rooted, is not to be eradicated by a hasty compromise, or a temporary 
 cessation of e;xactions. It is too dangerous, not only to the trade immediately 
 concerned in its operations, but to the general interests of the public, to be suf- 
 fered to ferment in protracted gestation. It forebodes a war of classes, in which 
 union and combination, craftily qualified, and reduced to method, by a well 
 adapted mechanism, threatens to surprise and overwhelm the neutral and indepen- 
 dent members of society, who merely stand upon their individuality. It projects 
 the propagandism of new and dangerous principles of social and political economy, 
 which, if suffered to invade the rights of capital, and the prerogatives of labour, 
 in detail, will ultimately prostrate all liberty of action, and freedom of contract or 
 exchange ; and revive, in its most invidious and incongruous forms, the ancient 
 monopolies of trade corporations, and the exploded theories of exclusive property, 
 or vested interest in the practice of the skilled handicrafts. A great question of 
 public liberty is involved in the uncontrolled right of every master to contract for 
 the services of any British subject he pleases ; a great principle of social morality 
 is perilled in the prohibition of any member of the body politic from earning his 
 livelihood by the pursuit of any honest calling to which he may apply himself, or 
 to which his circumstances or capacity may direct his energies. A most solemn 
 controversy of state policy arises in the consideration of whether every classifica- 
 tion of manual labour is to be permitted to hedge itself round with a wall of sepa- 
 ration, which shall vest in the initiated the sole right of pursuing the calling into 
 which they have originally procured admission ; because by this means the class 
 of employers, being restricted in the number of apprentices, would be left entirely 
 at the mercy of the dictation of those whom alone they could thereby employ ; a 
 dictation which has proved too often destructive to the trade of the country, to the 
 demand for the labour of even those who had proposed to appropriate it exclu- 
 
 * The late trials at York, and the less recent prosecutions at Glasgow and 
 Manchester, too amply warrant these conclusions. 
 
198 Account of the 
 
 sively to themselves, and to those whose ignorant selfishness rashly presumed to 
 tamper with the great and inexorable laws of social and political economy. 
 
 '• It has been the system of this formidable conspiracy, to take masters in detail 
 
 to undermine the discipline of establishments by secret negotiations with the 
 
 workmen, and to ' withdraw,' on a settled method, and by means of the suborned 
 treachery of men to masters, concealed by the euphuistic phrase ' Statistical 
 Eeturns,' which supplies to the Star-chamber of the Executive Council every par- 
 ticular cormected with the engagement of every artisan, to those whom they can 
 cajole into discontent, by bribing them to become stipendiai'ies upon the subsis- 
 tence fund. Ample evidence is afforded in the foregoing extracts from the ac- 
 counts of the Central Committee, and more is in possession of this Association, 
 that neai-ly every establishment in London (and, doubtless, the same practices 
 extend to the provinces) secretly contributes to this ' withdrawal ' fund, which is 
 really a strike or tui-n-out upon the most refined and subtle system ; and that it 
 is utterly hopeless to arrest the progress of these practices, except by entirely 
 cutting off the resources of the workmen, by a universal cessation of labom- and 
 of wages. When bad men conspire, honest men must unite ; and this Association 
 utterly pi-otests against the imputation that by combination they are tbllowing the 
 practices they condemn. As well may the police force be confounded with tthe 
 gangs of the lawless they are marshalled to detect ; the fleets of merchantimen, 
 sailing in convoy, for mutual protection, be classed with privateers or pirates ; or 
 the defence of our coast be placed in the same moral category with the army of 
 invasion. 
 
 " To all of us it has been a subject of the deepest pain, to be compelled to visit 
 upon the innocent the common punishment of the guilty. We can but answer, 
 that we punish ourselves the most severely of all, by the loss of interest on oui 
 capital, and of profit on our business ; that we have no means of distinguishing 
 those who maintain their independence, and render us faithful service, from- too 
 many who treacherously apply the wages they receive from oui' hands to feed the 
 mutiny against us ; and that many who belong or contribute to these unions, 
 have the meanness to conceal, or the mendacity to deny it. We are bound, also, 
 to, say, that the complaints of being treated with injustice, emanating from those 
 who, disclaiming connexion with the unions, yet find themselves involved in the 
 same common exclusion, are not very reasonable. If they have no sympathy 
 with the Executive Council, they are numerous enough and strong enough to 
 assert their own independence, and to put down its tyranny and dictation. If 
 they either cannot or will not, it is not open to them to complain of the only 
 measures open to their employers to defeat the machinations of their common 
 opponent. Indeed, it is not conceivable that a sixth part of the whole workmen 
 in our employment could assume the regulation of the conditions of our relation- 
 ship with our hands, without the secret sympathy or passive consent of the vast 
 majority. When the great body of our artisans are sincerely desirous to act with 
 fideli-ty towards us, and to assert their own independence, there is no doubt thaft, 
 there being a will, there will be foimd a way. If they plead coercion, intimida- 
 tion, even danger to their personal safety, the more thorough and energetic are 
 the measures which are called for from their employers. It may be indeed that 
 even these may not be effectual. The artisans in other trades are invoked to take 
 part in the common conspiracy of labour against capital ; and the time may have 
 arrived when, driven to stand by their order, this Association will have to be 
 extended to and embrace all denominations of employers. 
 
 "' The Executive Committee are anxiously engaged in considering the means 
 by which the causes of this unhappy state of antagonism betwixt classes, whose 
 mutual interests should inspire them with a common spirit of co-operation, may 
 be permanently removed. But to be effectual to secure a desirable consum- 
 mation, they must be carefully matured, and founded upon well-authenlicatei 
 data ; because it is not a hollow truce but ample securities for a lasting peace, 
 which alone can make the grave step adopted by the members of the Association 
 of simultaneously closing their establishments, either useful or justifiable. 
 
 " This only the Association will at present define as the indispensable basis 
 upon which they will alone consent to resume their avocations — 
 
Lock-out of EngiTheers, ^c. 199 
 
 " 1. The undoubted and unrestricted right of every labouriag man in this free 
 kingdom to follow any honest calling in which employers may desire to engage 
 him. 
 
 " 2. The xmquestionable prerogative of every employer to make what arrange- 
 ments, and engage what workmen he pleases, upon whatever terms they choose 
 mutually to agree. 
 
 " 3. The imperative necessity of providing such securities for the full accom- 
 plishment and permanent establishment of these conditions as shall frustrate all 
 attempts of self-constituted and irresponsible bodies by intimidation, conspiracy, 
 and dictation, to weaken the rights of employers or the independent privileges of 
 labour. 
 
 " (By order of the Committee ) 
 
 " Sidney Smith, 
 " Secretary of the Central Association. 
 
 " 30, BUCKLEKSBURT, 
 
 "January 17th, 1852." 
 
 APPENDIX IV. 
 
 " The Appeal of the Executive Council of the Amalgamated Society to the Trades 
 and the Public, 
 
 "The Executive Council of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, &c., ear- 
 nestly entreat that the employers of engineering operatives, the non-aociety men, 
 their own members, and the public at large, will give their attention to the docu- 
 ment printed with this appeal. 
 
 "■ That document contains the minutes of the resolutions come to by the con- 
 fiaence of the Employers' Association, and which, marked as ' Private and Con- 
 fidential,' and ' For Members only,' has been circulated among the trade, so that 
 those belonging to it may send in their assent to or dissent from it. 
 
 " Those who do wrong — ^who perform unjust acts — ^who violate every rule of 
 equity, and every principle of morality — ^who tread under foot every aspiration 
 for rational and well defined freedom, always endeavour to work in secret. They 
 understand that — as the Times says — ' public opinion always gravitates to the 
 right in the long run,' and conscious of their own injustice,, they dread to stand 
 openly before it. Therefore this missive is marked ' Private and Confidential.' 
 
 " A copy of it, however, has come into our hands, and we, seeking for no secrecy 
 — dreading no amount of publicity, but conscious of the justice of our cause — 
 courting the strictest inquiry — the closest investigation, put it before the world, 
 and ask for an impartial judgment upon it, and while we do so, we cannot with 
 justice to ourselves, or to those whose interests we have been appointed to guard!, 
 abataim from plainly expressing oui- own thoughts and feelings. 
 
 ""We believe that the resolutions of the Employers' Association express the 
 apiaat of the most utter despotism — ^that in fact, they violate the law which msely 
 allows of peaceable combinations among all classes — that they eonti'avene the 
 recognised principles of commercial liberty — that they breathe the determination 
 to. impose an abhorrent slavery upon all those whose only property is their labour 
 — ^that they have a tendeney to crush that liberty of action which is essential to 
 the welfare of a people — that they are opposed to the interests of the general public 
 — and that they degrade and disgrace humanity. These may be thought strong 
 terms, bat they are fully justifiied by the tyranny which provokes them, for never 
 yet in the history of a free people was such a yoke of serfdom attempted to be 
 imposed upon its- commercial and industrial masses. 
 
 "■Employers of labour should refuse their assent to these monstrous proposi- 
 tions, because their own free action is shackled by them. If they are adopted, the 
 manufacturers will no longer be able to engage whom they please. They are by 
 the first resolution prohibited from admitting into their establishments any mem- 
 ber of any society which takes cognizance of the contracts between employers and 
 employed. By the second- resolution they are prohibited from receiving any depu- 
 tation even from their own worhnen, and are compelled to dismiss any one connected 
 with such deputation. By the fourth resolution the terms upon which alone thejr 
 
200 Account of the 
 
 shall engage their own workmen are authoritatively dictated to them by this dis- 
 graceful Association. By the fifth resolution they are prevented from employing 
 any man who shall have offended against the arbitrary will of any former em- 
 ployer. By the sixth resolution they are bound to abide by the award of the Em- 
 ployers' Executive as to any disputes respecting the internal management of their 
 own establishments ; and by the seventh resolution they will, if they consent to it, 
 bind themselves to take a part in the quarrels of every other factory, and at their 
 own risk and cost — at the expense of the cessation of their own business — to 
 uphold any individual acts of oppression which the Executive Committee may 
 think fit to sanction. 
 
 " We ask you. Employers of England, whether you vrill consent to abdicate 
 yom- own right of free action — to endanger your position — to subject yourselves 
 to continual embroilments — to risk your business — to alienate youi' workmen, in 
 order to serve the selfish ends of a few unworthy members of your own body, led 
 on by an unprincipled mercenary hireling ? We entreat you to pause — to think 
 well, both for your own sakes and for the sake of others, before you take so rash, 
 unwise, unjust, and precipitate a step. 
 
 " We entreat the non-society men — those whom the combined employers have 
 sacrificed under the pretence of protecting — those to whom the Amalgamated 
 Society has stretched forth the hand of brotherhood and help in the hour of 
 distress, to combine with us to resist this tyranny which is endeavoured to be 
 imposed upon all alike. We call upon them to stand by their order, with the in- 
 terests of which their own welfare is inseparably bound up. Will they consent to 
 abdicate their right to combine in the most peaceable and legal form ? Will they 
 allow themselves to be debarred fi-om delegating one or more of their own body, 
 respectfully to represent any grievances they may feel to their employers ? Will 
 they allow themselves to be forced in their individual weakness, to stand sepa- 
 rately before the power of capital ? Will they acknowledge themselves to be such 
 slaves that they may not employ their own time after their work is done — their 
 own wages after they have earned them, in the way which to them seems best ? 
 We cannot believe that they will. We will not give credit to the thought that they 
 are so destitute of all manhood — so indifferent to all freedom, as to submit to a 
 serfdom worse than that of the feudal times — more stringent than any which an 
 act of the Legislature ever dignified with the sanction of law. 
 
 " To the members of the Amalgamated Society, to those men who have acted 
 so nobly hitherto, we hope it is scarcely necessary to say one word of exhortation. 
 They can hardly want caution or advice as to how they should treat this more 
 than imperial proclamation upon the part of those who would be their absolute, 
 uncontrolled, irresponsible masters. They are well aware of the strength which 
 uruon gives them, of the benefits which it confers upon them. Upon it they lean 
 for support, when individual injustice is attempted to be practised against them. 
 To it they look for help when work fails, or vindictiveness turns them idle upon 
 the streets. From the funds it enables them to accumulate, they obtain succour 
 when disabled by accident, and in the time of sickness, and when the shadow of 
 death rests upon the house of a member, union prevents the tears of the widow 
 from being rendered more bitter by the cries of her children for bread. Operatives, 
 will you abandon such a holy combination as this? Will you singly expose 
 yourselves to the storm of oppi-ession which is sweeping on toward yoii ? Will 
 you cast off from the only anchor which holds you to independent existence? 
 Will you throw away the only barrier between the wrath of an employer and the 
 workhouse, and the prison ? We know that you will not. The very steps which 
 the Employers' Association are now taldng forbid you to do so. Notice the fact, 
 a fact from which you should gather wisdom, that while they say you shall have 
 no association, they intend to perpetuate their own. Remember that while they 
 hypocritically pretend to assert the liberty of all, they are denying to you that 
 right of combination which they claim and intend to exercise for themselves. 
 You cannot choose but to resist such glaring, unblushing despotism as this. 
 
 " Mark, too, that in order to insure to you any advantages which you ' fancy ' 
 you derive from union, they intend to give you a ' new, sound, and legitimate, 
 benefit society.' What sort of a society do you suppose that will be ? Do you 
 think it will support you against injustice ? Do you suppose that it will compen- 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, SfC. 201 
 
 sate you when you meet with accidents? Do you imagine that it will provide for 
 you when you are thrown labourless upon the world ? In short, do you fancy 
 that it will preserve for you that power which these ' masters ' are so anxious to 
 deprive you of? Do you even think it will allow you to control your own funds? 
 Depend upon it that it will not. It will have employers for trustees, and the 
 tools of employers for officers. Its rules will contain provisions for excluding 
 you for what those employers may call your misconduct — that is, your honest 
 independence. The character givers will become the fand-holders. A man's 
 deposits will be held as pledges for his good behaviour, and his very savings will 
 be moulded into links in the chain which binds him to abject slavery. 
 
 " To the general public we appeal for countenance, support, and help. We 
 trust that there is enough of good feeling to put down oppression in its foulest 
 form, wherever it shows its head. We think that in the sturdy English character 
 there is that love of fair play which will not countenance an organization riding 
 rough-shod over isolated individuals forbidden to unite. Thousands of the 
 trading class, in consequence of the power of large accumulated capitals, are 
 passing day by day into the ranks of those who live by labour and wages. Thou- 
 sands more, struggling in the vortex of competition, see only the same fate in 
 store for their children. Our cause is theirs. Their interests and oxa own are 
 identical. Even now, out of the earnings of labour, the main portion of the 
 retail trade of the country is supported. The degradation of the skilled labourer 
 involves the loss if not the ruin of the tradesman. 
 
 " To the non-society men, to the members of the Amalgamated Society, to the 
 shop-keeper, we say, if for no higher motive than your own interests, support us 
 in this contest. To all society we say do so too, from a higher motive. Do so in 
 the name of Justice ! Remember that right is above all, and that those who 
 stand by and permit wrong to triumph, inevitably prepare for themselves and 
 their posterity a fearful retribution. 
 
 " For ourselves, our own minds are made up. So long as we have hearts to 
 feel, brains to think, tongues to speak, we will cry aloud against this threatened 
 infraction of all duty alike to God and man. So long as any legal means of 
 resistance are left to us, we will struggle against the treachery, the falsehood, the 
 despotism of the Employers' Association, and if those means at last should fail 
 us, although that is a result beyond probability, scarcely within the bounds of 
 possibility, we, and thousands at our back, rather than yield an unconditional 
 submission, will be prepared to carry with us to other lands that skill and indus- 
 try which we are not allowed freely to exercise upon our native soil, and thus 
 take from the arrogant, heartless tyrants who now seek to lord it over us — ^to 
 make their arbitrary wills the rule of our lives — the means of employing that 
 wealth which they value more than the lives or wellbeing of their fellow men. 
 
 " (By order of the Council) 
 
 " Jos. Mtjsto, President. 
 " Wm. Allan, Secretary. 
 " LoKDON, 25, Little Alie Stkeet, Whitechapel. 
 "/anuary 29, 1852." 
 
 "Employers of Operative Engineers and the Amalgamated Society. 
 " [Private and Confidential.] 
 " For Members only, 
 
 " Central Association of Employers of Operative 
 "Engineers, &c. Offices, 30, Buckleesburt. 
 
 " London, 2ith January, 1852. 
 " Dear Sir, — I beg leave to subjoin an extract from the minutes of the Con- 
 ference held here this day, on the subject of the constitution and rules of this 
 Association. 
 
 " It is felt by the Conference that the time has now arrived when the members of 
 
 the Association should finally determine upon their future course of action ; and 
 
 at the same time that its measures should be perfectly effectual for securing the 
 
 defensive object for which they are associated. 
 
 " After two days' lengthened discussion, and the advantage of much information 
 
202 Account of the 
 
 to whicli tliey have access, the Conference have come to the unanimous resolution 
 to recommend the plan of operations developed in the subjoined Minute of their 
 proceedings, for the adoption of their Members. 
 
 ' ' I am, therefore, directed to intimate to you that you are respectfully solicited, 
 without delay, to enclose in the envelope herewith sent, your approval of or dissent 
 from the recommendations of the Conference ; that a meeting of this Committee 
 will be held on Thursday next, to receive and consider the collective returns fcom 
 the members ; and that at that meeting the whole mode, terms, and time of re- 
 opening the various establishments will be finally determined ; or suggestions for 
 these objects prepared for the consideration of an aggregate meeting of the whole 
 members of the Association. 
 
 " (By order of the Conference) 
 
 " I remain, dear Sir, 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 "Sidney Smith, Secretceryi. 
 
 " Pn Steiot CoS¥I1>ENCE .] 
 " For Members only. 
 "At a Meeting of the Executive CoTmnittee ef the Central Association of JEmphyers 
 of Operative Engineers, to confer with a Deputation from the Lancashire Committee, 
 held on the lith of January, 1852. 
 
 " The Conference proceeded to take into consideration the steps to be recom- 
 mended for adoption by the members of the Association, in consequence of the 
 perseverance of the Amalgamated Society and other Trades' Unions in adhering 
 to rules and practices equally inimical to the free action and just rights of the 
 artisan and labouring classes, and to the exercise, by employers, of the fair control 
 which every master is entitled to maintain over his own establishment. 
 
 " The Conference fm-ther, in consideration that the demands of the members and 
 executive council of the Amalgamated Society and of other Trades' Unions, had 
 not been withdrawn within the time limited by the Committee ; and that the. va- 
 rious unjustifiable practices of these combinations had not been disavowed by any 
 body of the artisans lately in the employment of the members of the Association.; 
 determined that it was indispensably necessary — ^fbr the protection of the opera- 
 tive and labouring classes from the annoyances, intimidation, personal violence, 
 and exclusion from^ employment, to which they had been habitually subjected by 
 the influence, organization, and ascendancy in the various shops of members of 
 these Unions, and for the relief of employers from the interference and dictation 
 thereby inflicted on them — to advise the members of the Association iinivei'saUy 
 to adopt the following measures of self-defence and self- vindication. 
 
 " First. That no member of this Association shall engage, admit into (or, after 
 he shall have become cognizant of the same), continue in his service or employ- 
 ment, in any capacity whatever, any member of any Trades' Union or Trades' 
 Society, which takes cognizance of, professes to control, or practises interference 
 with, the regulations of any establishment, the hours or terms of laboui-, the 
 contracts or agreements of employers or employed, or the qualification or terms of 
 service. 
 
 " Second. That no deputation of workmen, of Trades' Unions, committees, or 
 other bodies, with reference to any objects referred to in Article 1st, be received 
 by any member of this Association on any account whatever ; but that any person 
 forming part of, instigating, or causing such deputation, shall be dismissed forth- 
 with ; it being stni perfectly open to any workman, individually, to apply on 
 such subject to his employer ; who is recommended to be at all times open and 
 accessible to any personal representation of his individual operatives. 
 
 " Third. Tlrnt employers be especiaEy solicited, as much as possible,, to aisoiJl 
 the delegation of the engagement or contract of tlieir workmen to others, andi to 
 take a more personal superintendence or control of engagements with their hands — 
 and in the most especial manner, that they impress upon every person engageiby 
 them their anxiety that, in case of any molestation, annoyance, or obetructiom ia 
 pursuing their avocations, or procuring employment, they should at once apply 
 and complain to the principals of the establiBliment, who. should sift such com- 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, SfC. 203 
 
 plsunt to the Ibottom, and to dismiss all persons who. have been proved to have 
 offered or abetted such molestation or obstruction. 
 
 " Fourth. That no member of this Association shall engage or continue in his 
 employment any person whatsoever, until he has read, in presence of one witness 
 at least, to such person the. rules, if any, of his establishment, and also the 
 following. 
 
 DECLARATION, iy the undersigned, on engaging in the employment of [here 
 insert name, address, and trade of employer] /, A. B. [here insert, Christian and Sur- 
 name of person declaring] do hereby honestly, and in its sa/mplest sense and plainest mea/iif 
 ing, declare, that I am neuher now, nor will^ while in yowr employm&nt, become a memb&r 
 &r contpHmtor, or otherwise belong to or support ajny Traded Union or Society, which, 
 Erectly or indirectly, bu' its Rules, or- in its meetings or transactions of its business, or by 
 means of its officers or firnds^tahes cognizance of , professes to control, or interferes with the 
 fvpremgements or reg/uhMons of this or any otlier ma/avfadmirifng or trading establishment, 
 the hours or teirms of la^owr, the contracts or agreements of employers or employed, or the 
 ^uaUficaiions or period of service. I do also further declarCf that I have no purpose or 
 mtention to call in question the right of any man to follmo any honest! calling in which he 
 may desire to engage, or to make what arrangements, amd engage what worhmen he pheesea, 
 vp&n whatever terms they clioose nmtually to agree, 
 
 CSigned) 
 Bated the day of 185 
 
 Signed 
 
 "Fifth. That no member of this Association shall engage any workman who 
 has been previously in employment elsewhere, without ascertaining from what 
 establishment he was discharged, and whether the cause of his leaving had any 
 reference to an infringement of the objects of the foregoing declaration. 
 
 " Sixth. That no member of this Association shall, on any pretext whatever, 
 permit or submit to. dictation, interference, or direct or indirect tampering with 
 the management of his establishment, or the engagement or conditions of the ser- 
 vice of his workmen ;; but that whenever any attempts are made to abrogate or 
 compromise the free operation of the foregoing provisions, such member shall at 
 once' apply, if he requires it, for the advice, award, and assistance of the Executive 
 Committee, who shall be bound to afford him every assistance and support called 
 far by the circumstances of the particular case. 
 
 " Seventh. That, in the event of a strike or turn-out occurring in the establish- 
 ment of any member of this Association,, for reasons or from causes which shall, 
 in the opinion of the Executive Committee, entitle the employer so assailed to its 
 countenance and support, it is hereby and shall continue to be distinctly under- 
 stood, that all the members of the Association shall sustain, according to their 
 power and ability, such member in upholding the objects of the Association ; it 
 being expressly understood and declared, that no acts shall warrant the inter- 
 ference of this Committee, except such as it is the declared object of the foregoing 
 provisions to prevent. 
 
 " Eighth. That, in order as far as possible lies in the power of this Association, 
 to obviate any inconvenience which may arise to meritorious workmen, for being 
 deprived of any advantages they may fancy they derive from the legitimate objects 
 fcoua, which existing Trades' TiTnions or Societies have been diverted, this Associ- 
 ation gives full power and authority to the Executive Committee, to submit for 
 its sanction a plan for the establishment of a new, sound, and legitimate Benefit 
 Society." 
 
 APPEKDIX T. 
 
 The following document will show the present feeling and action of the Amal- 
 gamated Societies with reference to strikesi 
 
 The Thkeatenbd Strike ob the Spinkeks aub Minders . — At a meetingreceatly 
 hfild by the members of the Preston branch of the Amalgamated Society of Engjc 
 
204 Account of the 
 
 neers. Machinists, &c., numbering in the aggregate upwards of 20,000, the subject 
 relating to the pending strilie was brought forward, when it was resolved : — That 
 a memorial be presented to the delegates of the spinners and self-acting minders 
 for theii' consideration, of which the following is a copy. 
 
 To the Delegates of the Spinners and Self- Acting Minders about to assemble at a 
 Sleeting inPreston. 
 
 " Gentlemen, — We the members of the Preston branch of the Amalgamated So- 
 ciety of Engineers., Machinists, &o., beg leave most respectfully to intimate that the 
 subject of the pending strike for an additional advance of wages was considered 
 at a meeting recently convened, when it was agreed that a memorial embodying 
 the sentiments of the meeting be presented to the delegates, not only to inform 
 them that we could not consistently sanction any movement which had for its 
 object the compulsion of the spinners and self-acting minders to strike for an 
 advance upon the 7i per cent., which has lately been conceded ; butatthesam 
 time we strenuously exhort them not to carry out their contemplated enterprise 
 under any consideration. We would respectfully submit that the present is not 
 the time to commence the agitation, inasmuch as neither the critical state of the 
 Continent nor commercial affairs generally would justify the contest upon which 
 you purpose entering ; not to speak of the indications of a scarcity of food dui-ing 
 the winter, which will render it still more difficult for yon to succeed, particularly 
 as the masters have unanimously resolved not to comply with your solicitation 
 upon any consideration whatever. Under these circumstances, therefore, we 
 would venture to suggest the propriety of postponing for a short time, at least, 
 the struggle upon which you are preparing to enter, without wishing for a 
 moment to dictate the course we would wish you to pui'sue, we hesitate not to say, 
 as the result of some experience in movements of this nature, as well as from a 
 careful and unbiased consideration of the subject in question, that there is not the 
 slightest possibility of your gaining an advance at the present time, at least, on 
 the contrary, we have reason to believe you will entail upon yourselves such suf- 
 ferings and distress as have never yet been equalled by the many fruitless con- 
 tests which have previously taken place. That strikes are not so popular as many 
 may imagine, is strikingly apparent from what occurred at Colne (see Manchester 
 Examiner and Times, leading article of Wednesday, August 22nd, 1860), where 
 coercion and intimidation have been frequently resorted to, in order to extort 
 contributions for the operatives already out on strike, because they were unwill- 
 ing to assist in perpetuating struggles that can do no good whatever, but which 
 are sui'e to result in a vast amount of evil both morally, socially, and physically. 
 Before you commence so desperate a struggle as the one which is pending will 
 inevitably be, permit us to advise you to ask yourselves the question, whether 
 you are able to continue it so long as to oblige your employers to accede 
 to your demand, for if not, it would be folly to commence it, inasmuh 
 as an additional defeat, — ^which we feel convinced you will experience, — 
 would inspire confidence in your masters of defeating you ever afterwards. 
 Your masters, it is true, may lose both time and money, and, if they do 
 that patiently and quietly they must win in the end, as they have invariably 
 done before ; but alas, what fearful odds are against you, time, or money's 
 worth, you lose altogether ; the members of your household acquire bad habits, 
 which may not change afterwards, — your children's ruined health, which years 
 may not renew to them, — yourselves thrown back as regards your chances in life, 
 — your earnings changed into debts, and the prospects which some of you may 
 have of self-education, self-improvement, and of raising yourselves above your 
 present position, may be gone for many years, yea, gone perhaps for ever. — You 
 sacrifice everything for what, depend upon it, a few months at most will prove to 
 you to have been an unsound attempt to make your masters pay for what they 
 simply decline to buy, that is, your labour at a price they do not consider fair, 
 for, be it remembered, that they have an opinion as well as you, and each have a 
 right to their own. Thus, then, have we ventured to express our opinions on the 
 contemplated struggle between yourselves and your masters, and we hope you 
 will receive them in the same friendly spirit as that which has dictated them. 
 For though it very often happens that in days of prosperity, remonstrances are 
 
Lock-out of Engineers, S^c. 205 
 
 disregarded, we hope, notwithstanding, that the sufferings and distress which 
 are sure to result from a contest with the masters will cause many to reflect 
 upon the serious position in which they will be placed, and to inquire if any good 
 can possibly result from such an amount of misery as they will inevitably expe- 
 rience if they turn out now. That reason and reflection may be brought to bear 
 upon the question, and the necessity for a strike entirely obviated by discarding 
 any interference on the part of strangers, and that some amicable mode of arrang- 
 ing your difl^erences may be speedily determined upon, is the sincere wish of the 
 members of the Preston Branch of the Amalgamated Society, which will shortly 
 be applied to by the neighbouring branches as to how we intend to act, and be 
 gviided by the answer we return to their respective communications. We have 
 the honour to remain, gentlemen, yours, &c.. Members of the Above Society." — 
 Preston Gnardian, 1st Sept., 1860. 
 
AN ACCOUNT 
 
 or THE 
 
 STEIKE m THE- COTTON TEADE AT PEESTON, 
 
 IN 1853. 
 
 PEEPAIJED FOE 
 
 Efre TS'atiimal assoctattBit fax ti)c prnmnttoit nf SiotitH Sctcnci;, 
 
 AT THE REQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE ON TKADEs' SOCIETIES. 
 
 By J. LOWE. 
 
 I. Peculiarities of the Cotton Trade in Preston. — Progress and 
 Condition of Preston. 
 
 The peculiar circumstances which distinguisTi Preston from all 
 other manufacturing towns chiefly arise from its geographical posi- 
 tion. Standing upon the borders of an extensive and populous 
 agricultural district, the Fylde, it fia-st receives the constant stream 
 of immigration which proceeds from the fields into the factories, and 
 is moreover supplied with such a provision market as enables it to 
 offer the temptation of cheaper living than any of its rivals. How 
 extensive this immigration has hitherto been may be inferred from 
 the result of an inquiry set on foot for the private purposes of the 
 Anti-Corn-Law League some years ago ; when, comparing the 
 registers of birth with those of burial, in the agricultural parishes 
 north and west of Preston, it was found that for every three births 
 there were only two burials ; in other words, that about thirty per 
 cent, of the population constantly migrated from the places of their 
 nativity. 
 
 As Preston is the first halting place for this immigrant stream, 
 and as the staple of its manufacture mainly consists of that low 
 order of goods which is required for the Indian and Chinese 
 markets, and which requires no very liigh degree of manufacturing 
 skill, it naturally follows that it enjoys a very abundant supply of 
 labour, not perhaps very firstrate in quality, but sufficient for the 
 purposes of its trade. In stating this, iowever, it should be under- 
 stood that there ai-e in this town some few establishments where 
 the very highest description of cotton goods is manufactured, 
 requiring the best quality of labour, of which (when needed) the 
 cheapness of living, low house rent, and the pleasant and healthy 
 position of the town, insure an abundant supply. Prom this it will 
 be seen that there are two classes of operatives in Preston, the skilled 
 and the unskilled, and that the unskilled predominate in numbers ; 
 facts which are, indeed, true of all factory towns, but which are 
 
208 Account of the 
 
 highly important to be considered in analyzing the condition of the 
 cotton trade in Preston. 
 
 A well supplied labour market, cheap food, and consequent cheap- 
 ness of land and building materials, are great temptations to the 
 capitalist, and we are not therefore surprised to find that Preston, 
 despite its distance from the great cotton port and the great central 
 goods market, has grown very rapidly to be a manufacturing town of 
 the first importance. It is, in fact, the second manufacturing town in 
 Lancashire, and while Manchester, the metropolis of the cotton trade, 
 has been steadily retrograding as a manufacturing town (owing to 
 causes the very converse of those which have operated in favour of 
 Preston), this latter has been, and is now, increasing with a rapidity 
 which has probably no parallel. 
 
 It is to be noticed of Preston (and there is no exception to the 
 fact), that whenever disputes have been prevalent between the em- 
 ployer and the employed throughout the cotton district, they have 
 never originated in that town ; but having begun elsewhere, have in- 
 fected Preston. This is doubtless chiefly attributable to the abundant 
 supply of labour which Preston enjoys, which not only tends to keep 
 down the price of that commodity, but gives the employing class an 
 immense power of control over the employed. 
 
 The operation of this has hitherto been, that there has never yet 
 been any serious or general difference between the operatives and 
 employers of Preston until discontent has become very general and 
 very extreme throughout other parts of the district. Then, indeed, 
 excited feelings getting the better of prudence, the force of examjDle 
 acting with its usual power upon uncultivated minds, the advice of 
 over zealous leaders swaying them with dangerous power, and the 
 pride of their order hardening them into a desperate and obstinate 
 resistance, the Preston operatives have engaged in those long and 
 terrible struggles with their employers, fit which they have obtained 
 an unenviable notoriety, and fi'om which nothing has ever yet 
 resulted but absolute and irretrievable loss to all parties concerned, 
 and great injury to the trade and progress of the town. In other 
 towns, strikes have resulted in concession to the demands of the 
 operatives ; in Preston, never. 
 
 Before 1853, the last strike of any importance in Preston occurred 
 in the year 1836. In that year, the early part of which was thought 
 to be very profitable to the manufacturers, dissatisfaction was very 
 generally expressed by the operative spinners throughout the dis- 
 trict at the rate of wages which they were receiving. Disputes at 
 Bolton had resulted in a concession by the masters of the advance 
 required by the operatives ; and, when that was accomplished, the 
 leaders of the Bolton malcontents, having acquired a taste for agita- 
 tion, proceeded to Preston, held meetings there, induced the people 
 to rise against their employers, and finally persuaded them into a 
 general strike, which lasted for thirteen weeks. Perhaps the worst 
 feature of this strike was that it involved in its terrible consequences 
 large bodies of operatives who were not really parties to the dispute. 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston, 209 
 
 The quarrel was between the spinners and the employers ; yet the 
 cessation from labour of 660 spinners compelled into unwilling 
 inaction nearly 8000 weavers, card-room hands, and other operatives. 
 The employers, determined to resist the tactics of the Union to the 
 last extremity, banded themselves into an association, and after 
 offering an advance, on condition that the operatives would abandon 
 their Union, remained completely passive. After the strike had 
 lasted about nine weeks, the employers opened their mills, and pro- 
 vided work for all who would accede to their terms ; they also 
 imported spinners from other parts of the district, and finally, after 
 an incalculable amount of misery had been sustained by the opera- 
 tives, and more than £107,000 had been lost to the town, the spin- 
 ners were compelled to succumb and to accept the terms which they 
 had previously rejected. During this strike the amount of relief 
 afforded by the funds of the Union was very trifling, and the great 
 mass of the operatives were dependant upon public alms for a 
 wretched subsistence. The demoralization arising out of all this 
 misery was naturally very great. Among the results bf this contest 
 has been included the adoption of self-acting mules, which enabled 
 the employers to dispense with a great many spinners. Such was 
 the celebrated Preston strike of 1836-7. 
 
 From that time up to 1853 no very important dispute arose 
 between the employers and operatives of Preston. Isolated strikes 
 occurred, indeed (as they always will occur), but with no very 
 serious results. The operative spinners kept their Union alive, and 
 continued to augment its funds by subscriptions. The Masters' 
 Association was never finally dissolved, but took cognizance of dis- 
 putes having reference to wages up to the year 1846, after which it 
 is said to have been inactive up to 1853. Very early in that year 
 we find the factory operatives of Lancashire moving, and gradually 
 throughout the whole of the cotton district demands for higher 
 wages were made of individual employers. In a requisition made 
 by the spinners and self-acting minders of Preston, in the first week 
 of April, 1853, it is alleged that the public press had borne testimony 
 to the flourishing condition of the cotton trade for two years past ; 
 that in 1847, a year of great distress, a reduction of ten per cent, had 
 been made upon wages, which had been submitted to by the opera- 
 tives, " confidently hoping that whenever trade did revive, the 
 reduction would be restored ;" arguing from these grounds, the 
 requisitionists urged upon the employers that they would not 
 " refuse to restore at a time of prosperity that which, when trade 
 was in a languishing state, necessity compelled them to take from 
 the hard-earned wages of their operatives." This requisition, and 
 other similar demands, met with varied success ; in some cases 
 being responded to by a prompt and willing acquiescence, in others 
 by a partial grant of the advance, and in some by refusal or neglect. 
 Some few isolated strikes began to be heard of through the district ; 
 many of which, however, were speedily accommodated, and it was not 
 until the end of May that the agitation manifested itself in any- 
 
 p 
 
210 Account of the 
 
 thing like an organized shape. At this time local committees were 
 formed among the factory operatives of many of the principal towns 
 (Stockport, Blackburn, Bolton, and Preston, taking the lead) ; central 
 meetings of delegates from these committees were held ; and resolu- 
 tions of these meetings were published, to theeifect that nothing short 
 of an " unconditional* advance of ten per cent." would be accepted. 
 A resolution to this effect having been passed at a meeting of dele- 
 gates held at Bolton on Sunday the 5th of June, a meeting of power- 
 loom weavers was held in Preston on the following Thursday, at 
 which Mr. George Cowell (afterwards so celebrated for his connexion 
 with the Preston agitation) spoke at some length, and, after stating 
 that the Preston hands were working for nearly ten per cent, less 
 than any other town, and about twenty per cent, below what was 
 paid in Oldham, where the hands always hept up a Union and a 
 fund for their support whenever a master attempted to encroach 
 upon their wages, he declared that he " had resolved to try if he 
 could not arouse the operatives of Preston to bestir themselves with 
 a view to obtainiug an advance of wages." At this meeting, a cir- 
 cular was adopted for transmission to the employers, urging the 
 demand for an advance of ten per cent. 
 
 At this time, however, about 7000 of the Stockport operatives 
 were on strike. The associated masters of that town, having resolved 
 to make a combined resistance to the demands of the ojjeratives, 
 refused the advance, and the Operative Unions determined, by 
 directing their whole strength against it, to carry Stockport as it 
 were by storm. In this Stockport dispute a new element .arose. 
 Stockport, from its position as the southernmost of the Lancashire 
 cotton towns, is in many respects the converse of Preston. Its 
 labour market is not so well supplied, and the cost of living is higher. 
 These circumstances have tended to raise the average of Stockport 
 wages over the general average of the trade. But Manchester is 
 subject to all these conditions to a still greater extent than Stock- 
 port, and the average of Manchester wages is consequently still 
 higher in the scale. Now when the Stockport hands struck, they 
 gave their employers the option of three courses ; either to give 
 them ten per cent., or to refer the question to arbitration, or to take 
 an average of wages within a circle of ten miles drawn around 
 Manchester. To the last of these propositions the employers re- 
 plied by offering an average of wages taken all over the trade. We 
 have been particular in explaining this point in order to give some 
 idea of the complicated nature of the matters in dispute between the 
 operatives and their employers. 
 
 Seven thousand operatives of Stockport seemed determined to re- 
 main firm in their position, and sympathy and money flowed in amain 
 from all parts of the district. The country was agitated far and wide, 
 and delegates held public meetings everywhere ; but nowhere was the 
 
 * The word vnconditional referred to the condition attempted to be enforced by 
 some of the employers, that the operatives should not subscriue to any Union, 
 a condition which was naturally received with great disfavouK by the operatives. 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 211 
 
 agitation fiercer or more successful than at Blackburn; at Preston en- 
 thusiastic meetings were held weekly, but the subscriptions did not 
 average more than one-fourth of the amount sent from Blackburn. 
 
 The employers of Blackburn had for the most part granted an 
 advance satisfactory to their workpeople, and the operatives of the 
 latter, although stiU waiting for an advance, contributed largely to 
 the support of the Stockport turn-outs.* In the beginning of 
 August, the Stockport employers, either despairing of a successful 
 resistance, or unwUling to permit their mills to remain inactive any 
 longer, conceded advances satisfactory to the operatives, who re- 
 turned to work with the feeling that they had won a victory. 
 
 When the agitation of this struggle was convulsing the cotton 
 district, it might naturally have been expected that the operatives 
 would be in a very impressionable and excited state. Class was, in 
 a measure, arrayed against class, and both masters and men (being 
 ever prone to generalize) were only too ready to regard each other in 
 the light of enemies in a state of active hostility. What might have 
 been the result of conciliatory measures and an earnest endeavour to 
 convince the operatives of the imperative necessity of working 
 together in a friendly spirit we are not enabled to pronounce, as no 
 such endeavour was made ; but, on the other hand, the crude 
 attempts at curbing the spirit then afloat only tended to inflame the 
 evil. At that time the public journals teemed with police reports 
 in which the most trival matters in dispute between operatives and 
 their employers were brought up for the adjudication of magistrates. 
 Numberless stories, too, were rife, about the discharge of hands 
 for contributing to the support of the Stockport turn-outs, and 
 although these probably lost neither in number nor in circumstance 
 as reported by the agitators, many of them were doubtless perfectly 
 true. The effects of this soon became painfully obvious. Acts of 
 insubordination, perfectly inexcusable on the part of the perpetrators, 
 became common ; and employers complained (perhaps not without 
 reason) that it was impossible to preserve the discipline of their 
 mills. When to all this existing excitement was added the news of 
 the Stockport victory, a state of feeling was engendered which, if 
 properly considered, gives a key to all the subsequent events. 
 
 While the Preston operatives were agitating and subscribing on be- 
 half of Stockport, they had not been neglectful of their own interests. 
 Some of the Preston employers had already given the advance, and 
 between them and their operatives a feeling existed which, if not posi- 
 tively good, was sufficiently so to warrant the expectation that no open 
 rupture would take place, f That this, however, was nothing but the 
 calm that precedes a storm, a few short weeks sufficed to show. 
 
 * In the week ending July 2nd, the fund for relieving the Stockport turn- 
 outs amounted to £610, in the week ending July 16th it was £628, in the follow- 
 week it rose to £856, and next week £895. 
 
 t Eeferring to the local papers, we find that in the very week when Mr. Cowell 
 stood up in the Orchard and congratulated the people upon the Stockport 
 
 victory, the hands of Messrs. H ■ and M (who had received an advance) 
 
 p2 
 
212 Account of the 
 
 By the middle of August, the committees of agitators, relieved 
 from further trouble with regard to Stockport, concentrated their 
 energies upon Preston, which was selected as the next battle-field 
 for the agitation. On Sunday, August 14th, a meeting of delegates 
 was held at Stockport, at which it was resolved to support a strike 
 at Preston; and this was followed up by a meeting of the Preston 
 operatives, called by the spinners, at the Temperance Hall in that 
 town, on the 22nd of the same month. Two committees were 
 organized in Preston to conduct the agitation, one of weavers, and 
 the other of spinners ; subscriptions were levied throughout the 
 mills to provide a fund for any emergency, and the speeches of the 
 agitators began to breathe a sterner spirit of hostility against the 
 employers. It is, indeed, greatly to be feared that much of the 
 subsequent evils is to be traced to these crude speeches at the 
 outset of the dispute ; it is to be feared that the unconsidered decla- 
 mations of these men (who, being for the most part new to the task 
 of haranguing large meetings, were not likely to be very reserved or 
 very discreet in their language) were accepted as the earnest utter- 
 ances of the people. If so, we can scarcely wonder at the position 
 subsequently taken by the employers. It was upon these speeches 
 that they based the serious accusation that, even if ten per cent, were 
 granted, the operatives would not be content without an equalization, 
 and that they would take the masters in detail and screw them up to 
 a level with the highest prices paid. On the 18th of August, Mr. 
 Cowell declared in the Orchard : — " When they got a universal ten 
 per cent, they would have a standard list of prices, and make every 
 manufacturer pay as nearly as possible the same rate of wages." In 
 the same speech great offence was given to the manufacturers by the 
 exhortation of the' speaker to acknotvledge the authority of the commit- 
 tee as paramount to the employers : — " The committee requested that, 
 for the present, no mill would cease labour, whatever might be the 
 result of their application for an advance ; but keep to their work 
 until they were directed by their committee to tender their notices. 
 If they did this, the committee would be acknowledged ; — they would 
 help the hands, and they would work out the result for them. 
 Whilst they resisted anything short of a ten per cent., let them keep 
 peaceably at work until such time as they were ordered to give in 
 their notices ; let them serve a legal notice, and then the committee 
 would pay them what would enable them to live as long as their 
 masters might think proper to keep their machinery standing." 
 
 Unwise and inflammatory as such speeches undoubtedly were, 
 we cannot help thinking that the employers made a great mistake in 
 taking these utterances for the real sentiments of the operatives ; 
 for, by so doing, they forced them to act them out. They forgot 
 that the agitators arose from the agitation, and not the agitation from 
 the agitators, and that by accepting the speeches of these men as 
 
 took an excursion to Fleetwood, and that previous to starting they marched past 
 the residence of their employers, the band playing "The Fine Old English 
 Gentleman," 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 213 
 
 the oracles of the people, they placed them in the very position from 
 which they were most anxious to exclude them. 
 
 The Preston Guardian of the 27th of August, 1853, announced 
 that in all the mills in Preston and its neighbourhood, with the excep- 
 tion of five, the spinners were working at the advanced rate. Messrs. 
 
 s mill had stopped on the previous day, for reasons which will 
 
 be hereafter adverted to, and at the mills of five other firms notices 
 were served by the hands. During the following week," one master 
 gave the advance, and this reduced the number of mills at which the 
 spinners were serving their notices to four. 
 
 The cause of the turn-out at the first named mill has been so pro- 
 minently brought forward in supporting the course adopted by the 
 Masters' Association, that a short recapitulation of the leading facts 
 will not be out of place here. The dispute arose from a misunder- 
 standing as to the terms of a verbal agreement supposed to have 
 been made between the manager and the hands ; the latter being of 
 opinion that the former had promised them an advance of a halfpenny 
 upon some sevenpenny cloth, and a penny upon some eightpenny ; 
 the manager declaring that he never made any such agreement, and 
 had no authority so to do. When the advance was actually made, 
 it was found to be in the ratio of 7| upon the sevenpenny and 8| 
 upon the eightpenny : a difference slight indeed (perhaps not exceed- 
 ing a few shillings over the entire mill), but . quite sufficient, in 
 the existing state of feeling, to give rise to some excitement and an 
 impression that the operatives were being treated with bad faith. 
 There can be no doubt that there was great misapprehension somewhere, 
 and, as the manager made a public declaration that he had not made 
 the alleged agreement, there is a presumption that the hands were 
 labouring under a mistake. It has never, however, been alleged 
 that any attempt was made to explain that mistake ; on the contrary, 
 it is said, the hands were told that if they were not satisfied they 
 might go about their business, and it is quite certain that the whole 
 body of weavers (380 women) turned out without an endeavour being 
 made to pacify or bring them to reason. In the eyes of the employers, 
 this case was greatly aggravated by the belief (whether well-founded 
 or not has never yet been shown) that the operatives of Messrs. 
 — ■ — were prompted in the course which they adopted by the dele- 
 gates, and there can be no doubt that the indignation excited by this 
 belief had more to do than any other feeling with the resolution 
 now arrived at by the Masters' Association. 
 
 Before entering upon an explanation of this resolution, we may 
 not inappropriately offer a few remarks upon the position occupied 
 by the Association. 
 
 To impartial observers it has naturally seemed that, if combination 
 were permissible to the employers, it could not be refused to the men. 
 In meeting this natural objection, it has been customary for the 
 defenders of the employers to declare that they were driven into 
 combination for self-defence, and in consequence of the combination 
 organized by the operatives. This, however, was clearly not the 
 
214 Account of the 
 
 case ; for it can be proved that the Masters' Association was formally 
 reconstructed before the Operatives' Union took any step in the 
 dispute. From documents in our possession, v^e find that the Masters' 
 Association, which had been doiTaant since 1846, was revived, 
 extended, and organized upon a new foundation as early as the 18th 
 of March, 1853.* This fact is highly important, for it completely 
 demolishes the argument that the masters were driven to combine by 
 the schemes and machinations of the delegates. 
 
 The first public act of this re-organized Masters' Association was 
 the publication of the following manifesto, dated the 15th of September. 
 
 TO THE OPERATIVES OF PEESTON AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
 
 A month has now elapsed since the Associated Masters of Preston and the 
 Neighbourhood, yielding to the request of the operatives employed in their respec- 
 tive mills, and after a ftill consideration of the circumstances of each particular 
 case, agreed to give an advance upon the then rate of wages. 
 
 Notwithstanding this concession, and the wish thereby shown on their part to 
 settle the question in a liberal manner, the masters regret to find, that the opera- 
 tives have put themselves under the giiidauce of a designing and u-responsible 
 body, who, having no connexion with this town, nor settled position anywhere, 
 but living upon the earnings of the industrious operatives, interfere, for their own 
 purpose and interest, with the relation between master and seiTant, create where 
 it does not exist, and foster and perpetuate where unhappily it does, a feeling of 
 dissatisfaction and estrangement, and in a spirit of assumption, arrogate to them- 
 selves the right to determine, and dictate to the operatives the means of enforcing 
 the conditions upon which they shall be permitted to labour. 
 
 To this spirit of tyranny and dictation the masters can no longer submit, in 
 justice either to the operatives or to themselves ; hence they are reluctantly com- 
 pelled to accept the only alternative left : to close their mills until those now on 
 strike are prepared to resume their work, and a better understanding is estab- 
 lished between the employer and the employed. 
 
 In adopting this course they are fully sensible of the serious evils, moral and 
 social, which must attend it, and which the sad experience of 1836 must painfully 
 
 * These documents are copies of resolutions passed at meetings held at the Bull 
 Inn, Preston, on the 18th and Slst of March respectively. At the former of these, 
 it was resolved : — 
 
 1. That every member shall support and receive the support of the Association. 
 
 2. That funds for carrying out the objects of the Association be provided by a levy upon the nomi- 
 nal horse-power emploj'ed by each member, at such times and in such amounts as may be a^eed 
 upon at a general meeting. 
 
 3. That a committee of five (three to form a quorum) be appointed, to whom all matters affecting 
 the interests of the Association be referred, and whose decisions shall be binding upon the members. 
 
 Here two resolutions are omitted in our copy. 
 
 6. That each Ann shall, on admission, pay bs. per nomuml horse-power to the funds of the 
 Association. 
 
 At the latter meeting, the following resolutions were adopted : — 
 
 1. That the IMaster Cotton-Spinners' Association be reorganized, in conformity with the resolution 
 passed at a meeting held on the 18th inst., with such additions and modiflcations as the meeting may 
 approve of. 
 
 2. That Messrs. [seven gentlemen are here named] be a committee, with power to fiU up vacan- 
 cies that may occur. 
 
 3. That a call of 55. per nominal horse-power be made, and that the secretary make the requisite 
 application to each member. 
 
 4. That it be imperative upon all members of the Association not to employ any self-acting minder 
 or hand-mule spinner without a written discharge from his previous employer. 
 
 5. That any master-spinner whose establlslunent is without the borough, and who haa not pre- 
 viously been a member of the Association be ineligible. 
 
 The Operatives' Committee for sending money to Stockport was organized in 
 Preston on the 16th of June ; and the Committee for conducting the movement 
 in Preston, on the 29th of August. 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 215 
 
 recall to the recollection of many. They feel, however, that the responsibility is 
 not theirs : it rests with those who have recklessly created the difficulty, and 
 forced this decision upon them. 
 
 This document was signed by thirty-seven of the associated firms ; 
 including those between whom and their hands disputes were still pend- 
 ing ; a fact which the operatives were not slow to urge in refutation 
 of the assertion that the associated masters had given the advance. 
 
 The precedent of 1836 was, we fear, not without its effect in 
 inducing many of the employers to subscribe to the expedient of 
 locking up their mills. The easy victory which a few weeks of 
 starvation gave to the masters upon that occasion seemed to promise a 
 victory no less decisive and no less speedy on this occasion. The truth 
 is, these gentlemen did not thoroughly understand the extent to which 
 the railroad, the penny post, and the public press have revolutionized 
 society ; they did not grasp the fact that the same appliances which 
 had extended and simplified their business had rendered much easier 
 even the business of agitation ; and we know it for a fact, that it was 
 the general opinion of the Preston Masters' Association, at the time 
 of issuing the document quoted above, that the lock-out would be 
 brought to a close within six weeks, by the surrender of the opera- 
 tives. With a distrust of one another which appears not a little singular 
 under the circumstances, the members of the Association mutually 
 bound themselves by a bond conditioned for the payment of £5000 to 
 observe the resolutions of their body, and to keep good faith by each 
 other. Grave doubts have been mooted as to the legality of such a bond, 
 and whether a court of Equity would not destroy the effect of an in- 
 strument so plainly subversive of the best interests of trade. On one 
 occasion during the dispute an attempt was made by a member of the 
 Association to break through the fetters which bound him, and he was 
 threatened with the penalty of the bond ; but it is worthy of observation 
 that at the very outset of the business the members of the Masters' 
 Association had so little confidence in each other that they required 
 some more tangible and substantial security than a pledge of honour 
 and mutual good faith. At this date there were four mills on strike 
 on account of the weavers, and four others where the spinners' notices 
 were within one week of expiring. 
 
 When the determination of the Association was made known 
 through the town, the excitement was naturally very great, and a pub- 
 lic meeting in the Orchard was immediately called by the delegates, and 
 was very numerously attended. An attempt was made to get up 
 a display by engaging bands of music, but the magistrates, wisely 
 fearing for the tranquillity of the town, forbade ^11 such public demon- 
 strations, and their order Avas obeyed by the operatives without the 
 slightest attempt at resistancs. At this meetipg the operatjvp^ 
 pledged themselves to remain firm to their demSHfls, and separated 
 with three cheers for the ten per cent. 
 
 During this week a few charges of intimidation were brought be- 
 fore the magistrates at the Town Hall. The defendants were mere 
 Iftds, and the operatives, conceiving that an oppressive attempt ^vas 
 
216 Account of the 
 
 being made to fix upon them the disgrace of being riotously disposed, 
 resolved upon defending them. The sentences of the magistrates 
 were consequently appealed against, and the prosecutions were en- 
 tirely abandoned ; the extreme youth of the defendants having pro- 
 bably much to do with their escape. 
 
 During the week succeeding these events no less than three public 
 meetings were held by the operatives ; the funds levied in support of 
 the turn-outs amounted to £214, and the walls of the town began to 
 display those inflammatory placards which are the surest symptoms 
 of an agitation. This week the magistrates prohibited all open-air 
 meetings after sunset. Some endeavours were made on the part of 
 the Spinners' Committee to stop the coming struggle by holding a 
 conference with the Committee of Masters, but the reply of the latter 
 was, that they could not acknowledge the Spinners' Committee, nor 
 their right to interfere in the dispute. This attempt was subsequently 
 repeated in a more definite shape by the weavers ; who proposed 
 that "a deputation of employers should meet a deputation of the 
 workpeople, for the purpose of discussing and arranging the dif- 
 ferences ;" or, if that were objectionable, "that the matter in dispute 
 should be referred to arbitration, each party to appoint an equal 
 number of experienced men unconnected with the strike, and that 
 E. T. Parker, Esq., M.P., should be the umpire." If neither of these 
 courses should meet with the approbation of the masters, the 
 weavers respectfully requested them to make a proposal. This com- 
 munication fared no better than that of the spinners ; for the masters 
 utterly refused to acknowledge the existence of the committees. 
 
 Matters now began to wear a very serious aspect in Preston ; the 
 public (more especially the tradesmen) began to feel very great 
 alarm at the course which afiairs were taking ; and the correspond- 
 ence columns of the local prints teemed with exhortations addressed 
 to both parties, that they would seriously ponder before connnitting 
 the prosperity of the tovm to such dangerous straits, and various 
 expedients were suggested for accommodating the differences. Both 
 sides, however, seemed determined to fight it out, and were deaf alike 
 to expostulation and advice. 
 
 Next week, the public meetings in the borough were fast and 
 furious, and the subscriptions rose so rapidly that £1,054 were raised 
 for the relief of the weavers then on strike. 
 
 About this time some endeavour was made by the clergy of the 
 town to act as mediators between the parties ; the late Rev. S. F. 
 Page and the Rev. W. Walling being especially active. Their 
 ministration was not, however, acceptable to the operatives, who 
 appeared to think them actuated by partisanship. By far the wisest 
 and most temperate eifort at conciliation was made by a respectable 
 body of the clergy, and gentry, and tradesmen of the town, at a 
 conference held at Welch's Temperance Hotel, on Thursday, the 
 13th of October. This conference was attended by the Rev. J. 0. 
 Parr, the Vicar of Preston, and many influential clergymen and lay- 
 men. George Cowell attended before the conference to explain 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston 217 
 
 and defend the course adopted by the power-loom weavers. The Vicar 
 stated that he had held private and friendly interviews with various 
 gentlemen connected with the cotton trade, with a view to avert the 
 impending suspension of labour. He stated that the result of his 
 interviews with the employers was such as to lead him to believe 
 that they would not listen to any propositions towards a settlement 
 until the hands had renounced all connexion with the Union. On 
 the part of the operatives it was asked whether, in case they agreed 
 to make any concession, there was any guarantee that their employers 
 would listen to them, adding that it was useless attempting to con- 
 cede if they would not be listened to. No one present could hold out 
 any encouragement to the men that their employers would hear of 
 any terms short of the abandonment of the Union. The operative 
 leaders seemed to think that so long as the masters had a Union 
 which dictated the terms on which they should employ their hands, 
 their only safety was in keeping up their (the operatives') Union. 
 This attempt to bring the contending parties together thus proved 
 a failure. It was, however, thought by some parties that the operative 
 leaders at that time — ^little dreaming of the money support which 
 afterwards was forthcoming, and shrinking to some extent from the 
 fearful responsibility of an all but universal lock-out, which was on 
 that day on the eve of accomplishment — might have been induced to 
 make considerable concessions if they had felt assured that their 
 employers would have listened to a compromise. All endeavours, 
 however, were equally in vain. On Saturday, the 15th of October, 
 the time of the notices, which had been served, expired, and the key was 
 turned upon a large proportion of the Preston operatives; by the end 
 of the next week forty -five firms had stopped working, and two more 
 were running under notice. In all Preston, fifteen firms declared 
 their intention of acting independently. 
 
 These firms continued running throughout the lock-out. Their 
 aggregate horse-power was about 500, and they gave employment to 
 above 3000 hands. The horse-power stopped by the lock-out was 
 nearly 3000, and about 18,000 hands were rendered inactive. With 
 an exaggeration perhaps very natural, the number was then variously 
 estimated at from 20,000 to 30,000. 
 
 Although Preston was now the centre of the labour-battle, the 
 contest had attained to much wider limits. A large number of the 
 operatives of Bury (employed both in the fustian and in the cotton 
 trade), others at Accrington and Burnley, a large proportion of the 
 industrial population of Bacup, Padiham, Newchurch, and Eawten- 
 stall, and a great many of the operatives of Manchester (including 
 the dyers, who were sustaining a prolonged and unanimous strike) 
 were unemployed. The number of unemployed at that time in 
 Lane shire may be moderately estimated at 65,000. Second only 
 in importance to the Preston lock-out was the important strike at 
 Wigan ; where, out of a population of 32,000, 5000 colliers and 
 6000 factory operatives were on strike. 
 
 On the 4th of November, the Masters' Association held its first 
 
218 Account of the 
 
 meeting since the closing of the mills, and published the following 
 resolutions: — 
 
 " That whereas an advance of wages was offered to the operatives 
 of Preston and the neighbourhood on the 19th day of August last, 
 which offer was dictated more by a desire to preserve the harmony 
 and general good feeling that then prevailed in the town, than by 
 anything in the state of trade warranting such advance; and where- 
 as the same has not been generally accepted by the operatives, 
 through the interference of the same mischievous and irresponsible 
 parties who have been the cause of aU the distress brought upon the 
 town; and whereas the prospects of the trade have materially altered 
 for the worse, — it is therefore the unanimous opinion of this meeting 
 that whenever the time shall arrive for the re-opening of the mills, 
 the rate of wages shall be the same as was paid on or before the 1st 
 of March last, subject however to such alterations as may be recom- 
 mended by the committee in particular cases. 
 
 " That this meeting on its rising do adjourn to Thursday, the 1st of 
 December next, but that the committee be requested to call a meeting 
 at an earlier period if they are of opinion that it would be conducive 
 to the establishment of the question on the basis of the foregoing 
 resolution, provided also they are satisfied that the general body of 
 the operatives are prepared to emancipate themselves from the dic- 
 tation of parties who have an interest in prolonging the unfortunate 
 dispute between the employers and the employed." 
 
 These resolutions drew replies from the committees of the opera- 
 tives, who were naturally irritated at continued imputations upon 
 the motives of their leaders ; but the most just and severe criticism 
 upon these resolutions was made by the special correspondent of the 
 Times, then engaged in investigating the facts connected with the 
 dispute. " Here (wrote he) is an extract from the resolutions of the 
 Masters' Association, deliberately adopted, which puts in the clearest 
 possible light some most important considerations. It makes manifest 
 that they do not understand their true position, as employers of 
 labour, and it proves that what they condemn in their operatives 
 they do not hesitate to put in practice against them. They, like 
 their hands, confound the price of piecework with the rate of wage? ; 
 they consider themselves entitled to fix beforehand, and by combi- 
 nation, what shall be the state of the labour market at some future 
 indefinite time. They even go so far in absurdity as to reserve 
 power to the committee to make recommendations in particular cases 
 when the mills again open. Can they accuse the operatives of dic- 
 tation and interference after this." 
 
 By this time, the operatives' committees, having gained some 
 experience in the conduct of the agitation, had reduced it to a very 
 complete organization. The amount of sympathy and pecuniary 
 relief which now flowed into Preston surprised even themselves. 
 Those who best understood the result of former strikes had 
 confidently predicted that not more than a thousand pounds per 
 week could be brought into Preston, and that only for a limited 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 219 
 
 period ; but by the middle of November the sum of money contri- 
 buted to the diiFerent committees amounted to nearly three times 
 that limit. It is much to the credit of the operatives, that even at 
 that time, when there was everything to inspire them with a confident 
 hope as to the result, they endeavoured to bring about a pacification. 
 Some weeks past they had memorialized the mayor of the town 
 (Peter Catherall, Esq.) to call a public meeting of the operatives and 
 the manufacturers to settle the dispute ; but that functionary declined 
 to call such a meeting, because of his opinion that it was not " the 
 proper place at which to discuss the differences between the operatives 
 and their respective employers ;" now they memorialized the Home 
 Secretary. This memorial, after stating the circumstances of the 
 dispute according to the operative point of view, proceeded to warn 
 Lord Palmerston of the danger to the public peace if the lock-out 
 were much longer persevered in. In reply his Lordship declined 
 to give any opinion on the immediate subject of dispute ; at the 
 same time advising the operatives "to endeavour, if possible, to come 
 to some arrangement with their employers." 
 
 On Wednesday, the 16th of November an event occurred which 
 threatened to bring great disgrace upon the operatives' cause. Every 
 Wednesday is a sort of market-day for the spinners and manufac- 
 turers of North and East Lancashire, for upon that day they repair 
 to Blackburn, as a central and convenient spot, for the purchase and 
 sale of yarn for weaving. As Blackburn was the stronghold of the 
 operatives (being far ahead of all other towns in the subscription, 
 list), and as the ten per cent, was being paid there, the Preston people 
 watched with no small jealousy for any attempt to tamper with the 
 Blackburn employers. By some means or other a report was spread 
 abroad, and soon obtained credence, that the Preston manufacturers 
 were attending the Blackburn market for the purpose of inducing 
 the employers there to close their mills, and thus stop the supplies 
 coming into Preston. Believing this, the Blackburn people became 
 very much excited, and on the Wednesday in question some ill-dis- 
 posed persons assembled around the Bull Hotel and attacked certain 
 individuals whom they assumed to be Preston manufacturers. The 
 disturbance was however speedily quelled by the opportune arrival 
 of the police (the sooner for the discovery that the persons attacked 
 were not what they supposed them to be), and beyond a few bruises, 
 and the demolition of some windows at the Bull Hotel, nothing 
 serious resulted. In consequence of this emeute the associated 
 masters of Preston memorialized the Home Secretary, recounting the 
 cu'cumstances of the attack, and representing the necessity of some 
 steps being taken " for the purpose of preventing such acts of ungov- 
 emed violence." In this memorial, the Preston masters compli-' 
 mented their own operatives upon their observance of the peace, and 
 laid the whole blame of the affair upon the Blackburn people. 
 
 About this time, the agitation received a little variety from the 
 appearance of female delegates, who travelled about and spoke at the 
 public meetings with all the energy, and perhaps moi'e than the 
 
220 Account of the 
 
 loquacity of their male coadjutors. The theme upon which these 
 women principally dilated was the obligation of the employers to 
 pay such wages to the men as would enable them to keep their wives 
 in comfort at home, without the necessity of sending them to work at 
 the mills. 
 
 On the 21st of November, the police authorities took a very 
 decided step against the locked-out operatives by the issue of a pro- 
 clamation prohibiting the sale of songs about the streets ; which was 
 designated as a pretence for begging, and threatened with the penal- 
 ties of vagrancy. 
 
 It was perhaps an ultimate detriment to the cause of the Preston 
 operatives, though at the time productive of great pecuniary aid, 
 that the Trades' Unions throughout the country joined in the contest, 
 and gave solid proofs that they considered it in the light of a class- 
 battle. The Amalgamated Trades of London took the initiative in 
 the movement, and continued throughout the whole of the struggle 
 to send large sums of money to Preston. At a meeting of London 
 working-men, held in the British Schoolroom, Cowper Street, City 
 Road, the following resolution was passed : — " That this meeting, after 
 witnessing the numerous failures that have been too consequent 
 upon sectional and isolated struggles of the people to maintain a 
 proper scale of wages, and to achieve the emancipation of labour, is 
 of opinion that the time is now arrived when a united mass 
 movement of the working-classes, based upon a national organiza- 
 tion, and guided by one directing body, can alone assure adequate 
 support to the men now locked out of employment and on strike, 
 and enable working-men, for the future, to free labour from the 
 thraldom of capital." Subsequently, at a meeting held at the Bell Inn, 
 Old Bailey, a committee was organized for this purpose, and a corres- 
 pondence was opened with all the Trades' Unions throughout the 
 kingdom. The result will be best understood after a reference to the 
 accounts of the Amalgamated Committee, hereafter given. 
 
 Pursuant to the resolutions of the 4th of November, the associated 
 masters of Preston held their adjourned meeting on Thursday, the 
 1st of December, at the Bull Hotel, when the following resolutions 
 were unanimously agreed to : — ■ 
 
 " 1. That neither the prospects of trade, nor the position taken by 
 the workpeople, enable us to recede from, or to modify, the resolu- 
 tions of the 4th of November, 1853. 
 
 " 2. It having been alleged that persons, willing to accept work, do 
 not know where to apply for the same : — Resolved in conformity 
 with the resolution of the 4th of November, 1853, that public notice 
 be given that applications for employment will be received at the 
 mills now closed, every working day, from ten o'clock a.m. till four 
 o'clock P.M. ; and that when a sufficient number of hands to enable 
 us to open our mills shall have applied for work, the committee do 
 forthwith convene a general meeting of the Association. 
 
 " 3. That this meeting do now adjourn tiU Thursday, the 22nd 
 instant." 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 221 
 
 The tenor and spirit of these resolutions caused great disappoint- 
 ment to all who were desirous of seeing this lamentable contest 
 brought to a close. They not only left unamended, but actually 
 reiterated the dangerous principles upon which the resolutions of the 
 4th of November were founded. 
 
 However, in conformity with the resolutions, the following notice 
 was posted about the town : — 
 
 "Notice is hereby given, that in conformity with the above resolu- 
 tions, applications for employment will be received at the mills now 
 closed, on and after Monday, the 5th of December, 1853, from ten 
 o'clock in the forenoon till four o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 "By order of the Association." 
 The immediate response to this invitation was extremely insignifi- 
 cant, for not more than two hundred applications for work were 
 received during the succeeding week. Indirectly, however, it proved 
 a heavy blow to the cause of the operatives ; for it compelled the 
 conmiittee to take into their pay a vast number of people who had 
 discontinued factory labour for many years, but who now threatened 
 to accept work, unless they were subsidized from the relief funds. 
 During the week succeeding the publication of the above notice, 673 
 persons were added to the list of those who received relief, and most 
 of these remained burdens upon the funds until nearly the termina- 
 tion of the contest. 
 
 Both sides having now settled into an attitude of dogged obstinacy, 
 the winter passed away without the occurrence of any very exciting 
 episodes. The weekly meetings of the operatives were continued, and 
 the pecuniary assistance subscribed for their relief rather increased 
 than abated. Still, there was a considerable amount of misery and 
 distress in the town, felt perhaps more acutely by those who de- 
 pended upon the operatives for support than by those operatives them- 
 selves. Not only was there a great deal of mendicancy in the town, 
 but some unfortunates were driven to the most revolting expedients 
 to obtain food. One family was said to visit a slaughter-house regu- 
 larly, and fetch the blood for their use, without having either bread 
 or groats to mix with it. A man was discovered picking out the 
 best pieces from some wash provided for pigs. In the midst of all this 
 misery certain members of the Board of G-uardians endeavoured to 
 withhold parochial relief from all who could not produce a certificate 
 that they had applied for work at the mills in compliance with the terms 
 offered by the masters. To this, however, some of the more humane 
 among the guardians objected, on the ground that no day had been 
 fixed for the re-opening of the mills, and that it was useless to send 
 people to ask for work, especially as by so doing they forfeited their 
 claim upon the funds of the operatives' union ; and it is satisfactory to 
 be able to add that these better counsels prevailed. 
 
 While upon the subject of the Poor-law Guardians, it may not be 
 out of place to mention that the great increase in the number of 
 applicants for relief had attracted the attention of the Poor-law Com- 
 missioners, who sent down Mr. Farnall, the inspector for the district, 
 
222 Account of the 
 
 to lecture the Board of Guardians upon the necessity of providing a 
 test for the able-bodied poor. The test suggested was digging ; but 
 the Boards, more experienced in the habits of factory life than Mr. 
 Farnall, refused to expose men who had been accustomed to work in 
 heated rooms to cold labour in the open fields, and in some places 
 neither Mr. Fai-nall nor his advice was received very respectfully. 
 
 At the adjourned meeting of the Masters' Association, held at the 
 BuU Hotel on the 29th of December, the following resolutions were 
 agreed to : — 
 
 " That inasmuch as no disposition has been as yet shown by the 
 operatives generally to resume work, this meeting do adjourn to 
 Thursday, the 26th of January, 1854. 
 
 " Should it, however, in the meantime be ascertained that many of 
 the operatives are desirous of returning to their work, immediate 
 steps will be taken by the associated masters to open their mills." 
 
 It had, hitherto, been observed and had caused much comment and 
 surprise, that the associated masters had preserved an unbroken si- 
 lence upon all the questions in dispute between themselves and their 
 operatives, and had avoided all reply to arguments directed to those 
 questions, whether urged by the operatives or by independent ob- 
 servers. About this time, however, they saw fit to break this long 
 silence ; perhaps conceiving, and not without reason, that it damaged 
 them in the minds of the unbiased, and certainly did not convince 
 the operatives. Some few employers began now to combat the state- 
 ments of the delegates as to their wages and lists of prices, by letters 
 addressed to the newspapers, and placards posted upon the walls ; and 
 at length the Association issued a formal statement, explaining the 
 case from the employers' point of view, and the motives which had 
 led them to adopt the expedient of the lock-out. This document was 
 as follows : — 
 
 " The Preston Strike. To the Public. In consequence of 
 the various misrepresentations which have been so unblushingly put 
 forth by men who are the acknowledged leaders of the workpeople 
 in the present struggle with their employers, we feel it to be a duty 
 to ourselves and the public to make a few observations, and to state 
 a few facts in reference thereto ; and we offer these observations 
 more especially to the attention of those who have only an imperfect 
 acquaintance with the factory system, as well as to the factory 
 operatives in this and other districts, whose sympathies and aid are 
 solicited on behalf of the hands on strike in this town and neighbour- 
 hood, and who are liable to be misled by the ex parte statements of 
 those whose interest it is indefinitely to prolong the strife. 
 
 We will not condescend to notice the various calumnies which 
 are daily applied to the masters, believing that the great majority of 
 the workpeople have no sympathy with such sentiments, and that 
 the general character of the employers in Preston needs not fear a 
 comparison with those of other districts. Neither do we think it 
 necessary again to enter at large into the origin of the dispute further 
 than to state our belief that the differences which in the first instance 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 223 
 
 existed, would have been arranged and would not have resulted in a 
 general stoppage of the mills, had it not been for the improper inter- 
 ference of strangers between the masters and their hands. 
 
 " It is alleged that the workpeople are ' locked out,' and therefore 
 unable to work, if disposed, and that the masters want ' to starve them 
 into submission ;' but it is not stated that the closing of the mills was 
 only resorted to after the hands in several of them had struck work, 
 or had given notice to that effect, although an advance of ten per cent, 
 had been offered to them in August last upon the wages paid in 1852. 
 The causes in which the strike originated were carefully investigated 
 by the committee of the Masters' Association, and it was found that 
 the differences between the demands of the operatives and the offers 
 of their employers were so exceedingly small, that a more important 
 question than that of wages was involved, and that these firms were 
 to be made the victims of an organized combination, whose avowed 
 object was to take the masters in succession, and compel them to ac- 
 cept the terms of the unionists. 
 
 " We now come to the question of wages, about which so much has 
 been said with a view of misleading the public. The leaders of this 
 agitation affirm that several reductions of wages have taken place from 
 time to time, but they refer more particularly to that in 1847, and to 
 a promise stated to have been made by the masters to give a corres- 
 ponding advance when trade revived, as a justification of their demand 
 for an advance of ten per cent. We at once admit that owing to the 
 depressed state of trade in 1847 a general reduction of wages took 
 place in the latter part of that year, or early in 1848. We deny, how- 
 ever, that any such promise was made by the masters generally, 
 although this might have been done by some individual firms. 
 Before proceeding further it is necessary to explain that most of the 
 work done in factories is piecework, and that the prices paid are in 
 all cases regulated by the quality of the raw material, and the state 
 of the machinery. For instance — where the machinery is old, there 
 may be a high rate of piecework and the weekly earnings low ; and 
 where the machinery is modern, and embraces all the recent improve- 
 ments, there may be a lower rate of piecework and the earnings com- 
 paratively high, without any extra exertion on the part of the hands. 
 
 " Being anxious to ascertain the difference (if any) between the 
 earnings of the various classes of operatives in 1847, before the 
 above-mentioned reduction took place, and those in the summer of 
 1853, before the ten per cent, was demanded, we find, from the 
 returns furnished us from the wages books of several large and influ- 
 ential firms, that instead of any decrease, there has been an actual 
 increase, varying from five to thirty per cent., after making due 
 allowance for the difference in the hours of labour from sixty -nine 
 to sixty hours per week. We have not thought it necessary to extend 
 these inquiries, not having the slightest doubt that, if the average of all 
 the mills now closed had been taken, the result would have been the 
 same. Wc take this opportunity of stating, for the information of 
 those persons whose aid and contributions are solicited for the hands, 
 
224 Account of the 
 
 that in a well-regulated spmning and weaving establishment, the 
 weekly earnings of men employed therein vary from I2s. to 35s. ; 
 women and young persons from 7s. 6d. to 1 5s. ; and children from 
 4s. to 6*., according to the nature of the employment and the dili- 
 gence and ability of the worker ; and that the average of all classes 
 of hands in such an establishment is about 10s. each. 
 
 " In reference to the statements so frequently made, that the wages 
 paid in Preston are much lower than in other towns, the fact that 
 this town has hitherto been well supplied with good hands suffi- 
 ciently refutes these assertions, which are put forth without any proof 
 whatever. 
 
 " In corroboration of the above, we would refer to the letters of 
 three masters, in the Preston Chronicle of the 24th inst., respecting 
 their own cases, and which, we feel assured, could be supported by 
 many others of a similar kind ; but these prove that wages are not 
 generally lower here than elsewhere. 
 
 "After the continuance of this struggle for upwards of ten weeks, 
 the operatives still persist in their demands, and evince the same 
 indisposition to return to work, although the masters have declared 
 their willingness to receive applications, and as soon as they were 
 sufficiently numerous to enable them to open their mills, immediate 
 steps would be taken to that effect. No applications of any conse- 
 quence have been made, and the dispute appears as far off a settlement 
 as ever. 
 
 (By order of the Committee,) 
 
 " John Humbek, Secretary, pro tern. 
 
 "Peeston, Dec. 27, 1853." 
 
 To this statement the Weavers' Committee replied as follows : — 
 
 "Peeston Lock-Out. — To the Beitish Public— In consequence 
 of the various misrepresentations which have been so unblushingly 
 put forth by the ' Masters' Association ;' we, the Weavers' Associa- 
 tion, feel it to be a duty to ourselves and the public to publish the 
 following answers : — 
 
 " igt. — In the document issuedyesterday by the Masters' Committee, 
 they say, ' that the differences which in the first instance existed 
 would have been arranged, and would not have resulted in a general 
 stoppage of the mills, had it not been for the improper interference 
 of strangers between the masters and their hands.' We beg to say 
 distinctly, that, no strangers had, either properly or improperly, 
 interfered in the disputes between the masters and their hands, pre- 
 vious to a notice being given for a general stoppage. 
 
 "2nd. We repeat, that we have been 'locked out, in order to 
 
 starve us into submission,' not because we objected to the advances 
 made upon the price paid in 1852, for the great body of us were 
 perfectly satisfied with the advances given, but because we thought 
 fit to give our own money to support some four mills' hands that 
 had disputes with their employers, the primary cause of our sym- 
 pathy being, that these workpeople had been denied the opportunity 
 of explaining, or coming to an arrangement with their employers. 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 225 
 
 It is false and without any foundation to say ' that these firms were 
 to be made the victims of an organized combination, whose avowed 
 object was to take the masters in succession, and compel them to 
 accept the terms of the unionists.' We deny this statement, and 
 challenge them to substantiate it. We, as a body, have never done 
 or said anything to justify such a conclusion. 
 
 " 3rd. — They say, ' We at once admit that, owing to the depressed 
 state of trade in 1847, a general reduction of wages took place ;' 
 but with respect to the promise of restoring it when trade revived, 
 they say, ' We deny, however, that any such promise was made by 
 the masters generally, although this might have been done by some 
 individual firms.' We are prepared to admit that every employer 
 in the town did not make that promise : there were several firms 
 where had the hands, or any portion of them, raised the shadow of 
 an objection to the reduction, or solicited a promise of any descrip- 
 tion, they would have received summary ejectment ; and such a 
 process, in the state of the labour market at the time, would have 
 been next to starvation and death ; but the promise given at the 
 firms where the masters allowed them some little ' freedom,' was 
 justly considered applicable to all, and consequently, to those firms 
 where the hands dare not ask, at that time, to be other than 
 ' degraded slaves.' 
 
 " 4th. — They say, ' Being anxious to ascertain the difierence (if 
 any) between the earnings of the various classes of operatives in 
 1847, before the above mentioned reduction took place, and those in 
 the summer of 1853, before the 10 per cent, was demanded, we find, 
 from the returns furnished us from the wages Ijook of several large 
 and influential firms, that instead of any decrease, there has been 
 a,n actual increase, varying from 5 to 30 per cent., after making due 
 allowance for the difierence in the hours of labour, from sixty-nine 
 to sixty hours per week.' Gentlemen, if your object had been to fur- 
 nish statistical data of the benefit and blessings which have resulted from 
 the passing of the Ten Hours' Bill (that bill which you so long and 
 so zealously opposed, and which you so often prophesied would be 
 followed by ruinous and disastrous results^ — by the bye, we are told 
 at the present time, that if you cannot succeed in reducing our wages 
 ten per cent., it will be followed by disastrous ruin) we could have 
 understood your motive ; but because, by our untiring exertions, we 
 have succeeded in doing as much work in sixty hours as we formerly 
 did in sixty-nine hours, you are so ungenerous as to make this a justifi- 
 cation for preventing us participating in the general prosperity which 
 has followed ; but you say, ' that in a well regulated spinning and 
 weaving establishment, the average earnings of all classes of hands 
 are about 10*. each.' You forget to tell us whose well regulated 
 establishment this is ; but if all establishments where the average 
 earnings are less than 10s. per week, are badly regulated establish- 
 ments, we are prepared to prove from your own books, if you will 
 furnish us with the facility, that the great body of establishments 
 are anything but ' well regulated.' 
 
 Q 
 
226 Account of the 
 
 " 5tli. — We repeat that the wages paid in Preston are less than 
 what are paid in other districts, and this is the secret cause of the 
 determination of the workpeople to improve their condition. 
 
 " 6th. — We refer the public to thel etters we have sent to the 
 Preston papers, in answer to those which appeared in the Chronicle 
 of Saturday last. 
 
 " 7th. — We beg to say, that in this struggle the masters are the 
 aggressors ; we are on the defensive ; we were (with the few excep- 
 tions referred to) satisfied with the wages given us before the ' Lock- 
 out ;' we understand that we must not resume work unless we will 
 submit to a reduction of ten per cent. ; we have oifered to have the 
 question settled upon reasonable terms, but ' no concession' is the 
 terms of our employers ; they have forced us to rely for an existence 
 upon aid from other towns, and now tell us, that we can only resume 
 work upon condition that we will degrade ourselves in the eyes of 
 the world, by accepting a reduction, which must naturally be fol- 
 lowed by a reduction in the wages of those who have so generously 
 saved our children from starvation. Are these the only terms of 
 honourable men ? will it be the interest of the employers of Preston 
 to see their workpeople both degraded and dishonest ?— We think 
 not ; but if it be, we tell them that we will suffer much before we 
 will submit to such depravity. 
 
 " In conclusion, we again reiterate, that we are prepared at any 
 time to bring this dispute to an honourable and reasonable arrangement. 
 " By order of the Power-loom Weavers' Committee, 
 
 "James Whalley, Sec. 
 
 "Committee Room, Preston, Dec. 28fh, 1853." 
 
 It were needless to recapitulate the true facts of the case, already 
 recorded in these pages, and to point out from them how far both 
 these statements are erroneous. 
 
 There can be no doubt that at this time many of the Preston 
 masters Avere " very hard put to it." Many of them were desirous 
 of getting to work, and there is good reason to believe that some of the 
 lesser capitalists apprehended serious difficulty if some aid were not 
 afforded them by their brother manufacturers throughout the district. 
 On Tuesday, the 27th of December, the manufacturers who attended 
 the Manchester market convened a meeting, for the purpose of taking 
 into consideration the position of the Preston masters. This meet- 
 ing was attended by employers of labour from Manchester and 
 Salford, Stockport, Bury, Ashton, Staleybridge, Grlossop, Hyde, 
 Preston, Darwen, Bacup, Bromley, Colne, Accrington, and other 
 places. It was urged that the contest being fought out in Preston was 
 not for wages, but was a question of mastery, in which they were all 
 equally interested ; that the Preston masters were running the risk of 
 bankruptcy for the establishment of a principle which affected the 
 whole class ; that that class ought to give them their support ; and 
 that as extraneous aid had been thrown into Preston on the side of the 
 operatives, the same description of assistance should be provided to 
 enable the masters to carry on the war : a resolution was conse- 
 quently passed, "to support the Preston masters in the jsresent 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 227 
 
 struggle." In furtherance of this, a more extensive meeting was 
 held at the offices of Messrs. Richardson and Whitworth, Corpora- 
 tion Street, Manchester, on the following Monday, when the follow- 
 ing resolutions were agreed to. 
 
 " 1 . That this meeting, having taken into consideration the matter 
 now in dispute betwixt the master spinners and manufacturers of 
 Preston and their workpeople, feels that, whilst upon all ordinary 
 occasions it would be highly undesirable to interfere in any local 
 dispute arising out of a matter of discipline, or upon the subject of 
 wages (believing that the unerring principle of supply and demand 
 is the only true and permanent regulator of wages, as it is of all 
 other articles of value), is of opinion that the present struggle in 
 Preston is organized and kept up by paid agents, chiefly strangers 
 in the town, whose interest it is to foment a spirit of insubordination 
 and dictation amongst the workpeople, towards their employers, and 
 that by an extensive organization for these objects, these parties 
 are now levying contributions from our workpeople and others, in 
 many cases by threats of violence and by intimidation; and seeing also 
 that it is the avowed intention of these parties, when they shall have 
 gained their object in Preston, to ' subjugate,' as they term it, the 
 manufacturers of other towns in succession, this meeting believes 
 that if this system should be successfully carried out in Preston ac- 
 cording to the intentions publicly stated by these parties, it would 
 be a public calamity, utterly subversive of the best interests of both 
 employers and employed, and involve all in one common ruin. It 
 has thus become a question affecting the interests of the whole trade ; 
 and consequently this meeting feels it to be the duty of all parties 
 interested to co-operate with and support the master spinners and 
 manufacturers of Preston in resisting this organization, and to tender 
 them compensation for the pecuniary losses they are incurring by 
 the present turn-out of their workpeople. 
 
 "2. That this meeting is unanimously of opinion that the most 
 equitable method of rendering pecuniary assistance to the Preston 
 masters is by a contribution from each employer of a per centage 
 upon the total amount of weekly wages paid by him, and it is hereby 
 agreed that a fund shall be forthwith raised upon this basis. 
 
 " 3. That the treasurer of this fund, together with other gentle- 
 men now present, be a special committee, to act with the committee 
 to be appointed by the Preston masters, in the receipt and apportion- 
 ment of the fund, from which no payment shall be made except by 
 cheque, to be signed by two members of the committee and the 
 ti'easurer. 
 
 " 4. That a call Qijive per cent, upon the total wages of each em- 
 ployer be paid weekly until the strike be ended, and that the same 
 be paid to the Manchester and Liverpool District Banking Company 
 to the credit of the ' Master Spinners' and Manufacturers' Defence 
 Fund,' and that the first payment be made on or before Saturday next." 
 
 As the accounts of this defence fund have not been made public, 
 we are unable to state the amount of pecuniaxy assistance rendered. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 Account of the 
 
 It is believed, however, to have amounted to a considerable sum ; 
 sufficient at any rate to enable the Preston employers to continue the 
 dispute ; and whether it was large or small, it is certain that some 
 of the subscribers to the fund found it an uncomfortable burden 
 long before the termination of the dispute. Messrs. Richardson and 
 Whitworth, the secretaries to this fund, advertised a statement reca- 
 pitulating the case of the Preston masters, and when their functions 
 ceased, a long report was published, distinguished, we are constrained 
 to say, by the singular inaccuracy of its facts, and the evident uufaii'- 
 ness of its deductions. 
 
 It was at the time suggested that the Associated Masters, in thus 
 extending assistance to their Preston brethren, were moved by other 
 considerations than the establishment of a principle. They were, in 
 fact, paying money to their rivals to stay out of the market, and 
 there can be no doubt that during this strike business left Preston 
 for other districts which has never returned back to it. 
 
 In the beginning of January, the London Society of Arts, actuated 
 by a very laudable desire to do something towards promoting a 
 clearer understanding of the facts, if not a pacification between the 
 parties, issued the following notification : — 
 
 " The Council of the Society or the Encouragement of Arts, Manu- 
 factures, and Commerce, having had the recent disputes between 
 the employers and employed in the manufacturing districts under 
 their serious consideration, are of opinion that this Society may be 
 made, in some degree, instrumental in promoting a clear knowledge 
 of the facts and principles involved in the questions at issue, and may 
 ofiier a neutral ground upon which both parties may fairly and tem- 
 perately discuss the best modes of either preventing the outbreak of 
 such disastrous quarrels, or terminating them as speedily and satis- 
 factorily as possible to all parties when they arise. 
 
 " The Council therefore propose, in the first place, to hold a Confe- 
 rence, to which they will invite the general associations of masters and 
 operatives at Manchester, and the local associations of Manchester, 
 and the local associations of masters and operatives at Preston, to send 
 each a representative. They also propose to invite to the conference 
 an equal number of those who took the most prominent part on either 
 side of the late dispute among the mechanical engineers. It will fur- 
 ther be the care of the Council to bring to the conference, without 
 bias on one side or other, as many as possible of those who, without 
 being involved in the labour question as partisans, have studied and 
 mastered its various bearings. The Council propose to regulate the 
 order of the proceedings so that they may have a practical tendency, 
 and a business character, and not degenerate into vague, noisy, or 
 useless declamation. For this purpose, each speaker will he strictly 
 limited to a few minutes on each topic ; and, that digression may be 
 readily checked, the whole subject will be defined and divided into 
 distinct propositions, such as the following : — 
 
 " 1 . Combinations. — Are they objectionable, whether set on foot by 
 employers or employed, as a means of influencing the value of labour? 
 Would a law of limited liability in partnerships tend to render such 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 229 
 
 combinations unnecessary? Do they remove the questions with 
 which they deal from the privacy of ordinary trade management, and 
 place them under public cognizance, and, if so, how may that pub- 
 licity be most simply and effectually secured? Ought any legislative 
 provision, or other arrangement, to be made by which the right of 
 association, if obviously exercised to the detriment of the community, 
 might be controlled or neutralised? 
 
 " 2. Strikes and Lock-outs. — Should partial strikes, intended to take 
 the masters of a locality in detail, be met by lock-outs? What other 
 means are likely to be effectual in terminating them? 
 
 " 3. Wages. — Does payment by piecework alter substantially the 
 nature of the relations which would exist between employer and em- 
 ployed were the latter day or weekly labourers ? Can lists of prices 
 for piecework be equitably drawn up so as to meet the varied cir- 
 cumstances of different machinery, different management, different 
 localities, and the constant progress of improvement? Ought manu- 
 facturers to bind together their associations within the limits of a 
 minimum scale of prices for piecework ? Ought the operative to 
 share beyond the value of his labour in the increased productiveness 
 of improved machinery? 
 
 " The Council propose that no resolutions should be adopted except 
 where unanimity prevails. While they venture, for convenience 
 sake, to prescribe the order of the proceedings, they intend to observe 
 a strict neutrality. They have fixed upon Tuesday, the 24th day of 
 January, for holding the conference, which is hereby convened at 
 the Society's House, John Street, Adelphi, punctually at ten a.m." 
 
 The conference here proposed was held at the house of the Society 
 of Arts, Lord Robert Grosvenor in the chair, on Monday, the 30th of 
 January ; but although attended by a numerous and highly respectable 
 audience, the manufacturers kept aloof. Mr. Ainsworth, formerly 
 the secretary of the Masters' Association, was present, but in his 
 private capacity, and refused to take any part in the proceedings, 
 otherwise than as a listener. Mr. Cowell appeared for the Preston 
 operatives and made a statement, the most important point in which 
 appears to have been his denial of the charge against the unionists-, 
 that they had intended to take the masters in detail. At the com- 
 mencement of the conference Mr. Ernest Jones attempted to get up 
 a scene, and on being called to order denounced the meeting " in the 
 name of the working-classes," and left the room. Nothing resulted 
 from the discussion beyond a vote of thanks to the chairman. 
 
 Mr. Edward Hollins, of the Eoyal Sovereign Mill, was not a mem- 
 ber of the Masters' Association at the time when, by locking up his 
 mill, he apparently adhered to their policy. Mr. Hollins stood in a 
 very peculiar situation with regard to his operatives ; for he was 
 willing to give them the required advance upon all his sorts but one: 
 on that sort (which was his lowest) he resolutely refused to give an 
 advance of 10 per cent., because he had already granted a very con- 
 siderable advance upon it, and therefore he held it to be unreasonable 
 that an equal percentage should be demanded upon all his sorts. When 
 Mr. Hollins locked up his mill, he did so upon the question of authority, 
 
230 Account of the 
 
 whether he -n'as to make an independent bargain with his operatives, 
 or be subject to the dictation of a committee of unionists ; for he had 
 reason to believe that the persons in his employ would have been 
 willing to come to some arrangement with him had it not been for 
 the interference of the delegates. When he closed his mill, he sup- 
 posed that the Masters' Association were going to fight the battle 
 upon the same ground ; but when he found, fi-om the tenor of the 
 resolutions of the 4th of November, that they were fighting rather for 
 the 10 per cent., he felt that he was standing alone in the matter. 
 At the beginning of 1854, when the condition of his trade rendered 
 it desirable for him to open his mill, he saw that it would be unwise 
 for him to oifer himself a sacrifice to a principle which all the other 
 employers had (in his opinion) deserted. Entertaining this idea, he 
 made preparations for the re-opening of his mill, and announced to his 
 former workpeople that he would supply them with work, and make 
 such arrangements as to prices as might be mutually agreed upon. 
 But the leaders of the operatives would not permit this ; they would 
 suifer no arrangement to be completed which had not previously been 
 ratified by their consent. Consequently, on the morning of the 9th 
 of January, when Mr. Hollins opened his mUl, the Weavers' Com- 
 mittee prohibited the operatives from going into it by a public notice. 
 Mr. Hollins continued toJkeep his mill running, and to provide work 
 for all who oflered themselves ; but although the number of these 
 gradually and steadily increased, the quality of the labour was 
 not equal to the requirements of his trade, which were such as to 
 demand the most skilful operatives. For this reason, and finding that 
 a large proportion of his work was either entirely spoiled or greatly 
 depreciated, Mr. Hollins found it necessary to make another endea- 
 vour to arrange with his own hands. After some negotiation this 
 was happily effected, on the basis of a mutual concession, the opera- 
 tives agreeing to accept an advance of about 4 per cent, upon the 
 disputed sort ; and on the morning of the 17th of February the 
 operatives who had been employed at the Royal Sovereign Mill 
 previous to the lock-out resumed work with the best possible 
 feeling towards their employer. It was some indication of the spirit 
 which really animated the workpeople at this time, that, before 
 resuming work, they held a meeting, at which it was resolved to 
 treat the operatives who had already accepted Mr. Hollins's offer to 
 provide work (and who had been working as " Knobsticks "*) with 
 friendliness and cordiality. For making this compromise with his 
 hands, Mr. Hollins was greatly blamed by the Associated Masters, 
 who stUl contended that anything in the nature of a concession was 
 degrading to the employing body; but by unbiased observers his con- 
 duct was deservedly cited as an independent and laudable example 
 of wise conciliation. In quoting this case, it should always be remem- 
 
 * TMs word is suggestive. In former strikes those operatives who chose to 
 act independently of the Unions were chastised with the reality of the Knob- 
 stick. Happily, the name now is all that remains of a veiy ruffianly branch of 
 Lynch Law. 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 231 
 
 bered that it was a compromise and not a victory to either party. 
 Of this the operatives themselves seemed to be perfectly aware ; 
 for, neither at the time nor afterwards, was there the slightest indica- 
 tion of any boastful or exulting spirit with regard to Mr. HoUins. 
 
 On the 24th of January the Spinners' Delegates published a very 
 important document, which stated the prices paid at several of the 
 leading spinning -mills in Preston, and compared them with the prices 
 paid elsewhere. From this lengthy statement the following most 
 prominent examples may be selected. 
 
 " Prices paid for Hand-mule Spinning in Bolton. — Twist : 
 Counts, 36's ; spindles, 612 ; 2s. 6d. per 1000 hanks. 
 
 " Prices paid for Hand-mule Spinning at Tatloe's Mill, Preston. 
 
 — Twist : Counts, 32's ; spindles, 600 ; Is. 6|rf. per 1000 hanks, or 
 2s. 2d. per 1000 draws. 
 
 "More paid per 1000 hanks in Bolton than in Preston. — ll^d., or 
 about 30 per cent. 
 
 "Prices paid for Hand-mule Spinning in Bolton. — Twist: 
 Counts, 36's ; spindles, 612 ; 2s. 6d. per 1000 hanks. 
 
 " Prices paid for Hand-mule Spinning at Mr. Ainswoeth's, in 
 Preston, the masters' secretary. — Twist : Counts, 30's ; spindles, 
 612 ; Is. 6d. per 1000 hanks, or 2s. l^d. per 1000 draws. 
 
 " More paid per 1000 hanks in Bolton than in Preston. — 1*., or 
 about 75 per cent. Bravo! Mr. Secretary. 
 
 " Prices paid for self-acting iuBLACKBUEN. — Twist: Counts, 32's; 
 spindles, 694 ; 3s. 9Jrf. per lOOlbs. Allowing 6Jrf. per lOOlbs. for 
 creeler. 
 
 " Prices paid at Seed's Mill, Preston. — Twist: Counts, 32's ; spin- 
 dles, 694 ; 2s. \d. per lOOlbs. Creeler paid by master. 
 
 "Prices paid more in Blackburn than in Preston. — 1*. 2d. per 
 lOOlbs., or about 50 per cent. 
 
 " Prices paid for Self-acting Minding in Ashton. Weft : Counts, 
 36's ; spindles, 720 ; lljrf. per thousand hanks. 
 
 " Prices paid for Self-acting Minding at Calvert's, in Preston. 
 
 — Weft: Counts, 34's ; spindles, 774 ; 7|c?. per 1000 hanks. 
 
 " More paid in Ashton than in Preston. — 3|(f . or 50 per cent. 
 
 " Well done ! thou good and faithful servant ; enter thou into the 
 joy of thy lord — Mammon !" 
 
 Although the accuracy of this statement was not wholly unim- 
 peachable, but, on the contrary, was in some instances successfully 
 disproved, it created an impression (probably not altogether un- 
 founded) that the prices paid for spinning in Preston were generally 
 lower than those paid at Bolton, Manchester, Stockport, and the 
 other towns quoted in the statement. 
 
 In accordance with its previous resolution, the Association of 
 Master Spinners and Manufacturers held their adjourned meeting at 
 the Bull Hotel, on Thursday, the 26th of January, when the follow- 
 ing resolution was passed : — 
 
 "That this meeting (deeply regretting that although the applica- 
 tions for work since the 29th of December last have been more nume- 
 
232 Account of the 
 
 rous than at any previous period of the turn-out, still they have not 
 been sufficiently general to enable the masters to resume work) do, at 
 its rising, adjourn to Thursday, the 23rd of February next, with the 
 understanding that, should it be ascertained in the meantime that 
 there is an increased disposition on the part of the operatives to return 
 to their work, immediate steps will be taken by the Associated 
 Masters to open their mills, and effective measures adopted to protect 
 the operatives against any improper interference or molestation." 
 
 The concluding sentence of this resolution bore reference to the 
 very unjustifiable endeavours of the operatives to interfere with the 
 free action of those who were accepting work at Mr. HoUins's mill 
 (the conciliation before referred to not having then been arranged) by 
 mobbing them and picketting the miU. We do not urge it as an 
 excuse, but simply as an explanation of this conduct, that the opera- 
 tives had executed no bond to preserve the unity of their body, and 
 that consequently they were unable to put in motion any such covert 
 coercive influence as the threat of a suit for £5000. 
 
 The effect of the foregoing resolution upon the temper of the 
 operatives and their leaders, may be inferred from the following 
 resolutions passed at the meeting of delegates held at the Tem- 
 perance Hall on the Sunday immediately following the meeting of 
 the masters : — 
 
 " 1st. — That no more deputations from the weavers wait upon the 
 eaiployers of Preston. 
 
 " 2ud. — That in consequence of the employers of Preston having 
 agreed to adjourn the opening of their mills until the 23rd instant, 
 this meeting of delegates resolves to carry into effect the two follow- 
 ing resolutions, viz. : — 
 
 " 3rd. — That in the opinion of the delegates here assembled, emi- 
 gration is not only one of the safest and surest means of thinning the 
 labour market, but is the best plan that can be adopted to bring this 
 strike to a speedy conclusion, and to prevent a recurrence of strikes 
 in future. 
 
 "4th. — That the delegates of the Central Committee pledge them- 
 selves, on behalf of the districts they represent,. not only to support 
 the Preston operatives, but to raise a fund to emigrate all operatives 
 who are willing to leave a land of oppression for one of freedom." 
 
 Whatever may have been the intentions of the masters when they 
 published their resolution adjom-ning the meeting to the 23rd of 
 February, they very speedily abandoned them ; for on the afternoon 
 of Wednesday, the 8th of February, the town was not a little surprised 
 by the appearance of the following notice, announcing that the mills 
 would be opened on the following morning, and would be kept run- 
 ning in readiness for volunteers : — 
 
 " At a special meeting of the Associated Masters, held at the BuU 
 Hotel, in Preston, on Wednesday, the 8th of February, 1854, it was 
 unanimously resolved, that in consequence of the greatly increased 
 disposition shown by the operatives to resume work since the meeting 
 of the Associated Masters on the 26th of January last, and firmly be- 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 233 
 
 lieving that lai'ge numbers have been deterred from openly manifest- 
 ing a desire to free themselves from their present leaders, and to re- 
 turn to their respective employment, only by fear of iU-treatment, and 
 of the loss of their present means of subsistence ; this meeting is of 
 opinion that the time has at length arrived when it is incumbent on 
 the masters, in fulfilment of the pledges repeatedly given by them, to 
 re-open the miUs, in the hope of thereby bringing this unfortunate 
 and protracted dispute to an end, and of rescuing the town and neigh- 
 bourhood from that wide-spread and rapidly increasing distress from 
 which they are now unhappily suffering. 
 
 " Public notice, therefore, is hereby given, that the several mills of 
 the Associated Masters will be re-opened, and will be prepared for 
 a resumption of work to-morrow (Thursday) at eight o'clock in the 
 morning, upon the terms and in accordance with the resolution passed 
 on the 4th of November last ; and all persons desirous of obtaining 
 employment may depend upon constant work, and are reminded that 
 the masters are pledged and are fully determined to protect them 
 against any improper interference or molestation." 
 
 In the first moment of surprise, the operatives held a great open-air 
 meeting, and pledged themselves not to resume work without the 10 
 per cent. ; but, before the conclusion of the following week, the policy 
 of the masters' movement was sufficiently demonstrated by the fact that 
 about 1,500 persons had accepted employment in the different mills. 
 In one very important respect the opening of the mills affected the cause 
 of the operatives ; for it compelled the Poor-law Guardians to refuse 
 relief to all persons able to work. The operatives inveighed very 
 bitterly against the Guardians for this ; but it was clear that there was 
 no option in the matter : the law was imperative. 
 
 Besides Mr. HoUins, whose conciliation with his hands took place 
 this week, two other manufacturers made arrangements with theirs, 
 and it was computed that altogether 2,500 hands had resumed 
 work in Preston since the issue of the resolutions of the 8th of 
 February. The leaders of the operatives were too acute not to see 
 their peril, and accordingly we find them straining every nerve to 
 inflame and support the agitation. Their harangues became more 
 declamatory, and their placards grew wilder in tone. The central 
 committee, meeting in Manchester, addressed the working classes of 
 the United Kingdom, and appealed to them in " the sacred name of 
 Union, to cherish and protect principles for the espousal of which so 
 many victims have suffered fine and imprisonment at the hands of the 
 ruthless, relentless, rapacious, and tyrant capitalists of this town; and, 
 lastly, we call on you, in the name of your own wives and children, whom 
 you are pledged before Heaven to protect, to pour in your contribu- 
 tions a little while longer; and, Heaven approving of our just cause, 
 toe will for ever crush that hydra-headed monster, Capital, that has 
 for such a length of time made our homesteads the abode of misery, 
 want, and all the concomitant evils inseparably connected with such a 
 state of being ; for be it remembered that, ' he who knowingly 
 
 PERMITS OPPEESSION SHARES THE CRIME.'" 
 
234 Account of the 
 
 Mr. Michael G-allaher, secretary to the Preston spinners' committee, 
 concludes a very Irish address with asking the operatives whether 
 they are prepared to desert their cause, and himself supplies answer : 
 " Let every working man, woman, and child in Preston 
 ExoLAiji, So HELP US, GoD, Never ! NEVER ! ! NEVER ! ! ! And 
 jiAT God protect the right." 
 
 On Thursday, the 23rd of February, the Masters' Association 
 followed up its new line of policy, by the publication of the following 
 resolution, passed at its adjom-ned meeting : — 
 
 " That the several mills of the Associated Masters having been re- 
 opened in accordance with the resolution adopted at their last meet- 
 ing, and several of them having had a sufficient number of hands to 
 enable them to commence work, and to get into partial operation ; and 
 this meeting, believing that great numbers of the operatives are still 
 prevented resuming work through intimidation and fear of personal 
 violence, pledges itself to continue to afford all the protection in its 
 power to every person engaged at the several mills, and at the same 
 time to resist to the utmost that spirit of dictation and interference 
 on the part of strangers to which the present unhappy differences 
 are mainly attributable. 
 
 " That this meeting, at its lising, do adjourn to Thursday, the 23rd 
 of March, 1854." 
 
 Finding, however, that the accession of volunteers to the mills was 
 not so speedy as they desired, they now put in motion a scheme for 
 importing operatives into Preston to take the places of those who per- 
 sisted in refusing compliance with their terms. 
 
 The following placard was printed and circulated very widely 
 over England and Ireland : — 
 
 "RE-OPENING OF THE MILLS AT PRESTON. 
 
 " Wanted a large number of Factory Operatives and young 
 persons of both sexes desirous of obtaining employment in factories, 
 with whom permanent engagements will be made on liberal terms. 
 
 " The present offers a favourable opportunity for large families desi- 
 rous of removing to the manufacturing districts. 
 
 " Application to be made to the Secretary of the Masters' Asso- 
 ciation, Preston. 
 
 "February 23ra, 1854." 
 
 They took into their employ agents, who travelled about the coun- 
 try, especially in Ireland and in the agricultural counties of England, 
 inducing young people to come to Preston and learn the operations 
 of the cotton manufacture. It was charged against these agents at 
 the time that in the performance of their duty they were guUty of 
 deceiving the people whom they so induced; that they exaggerated 
 the average rate of earnings, and concealed the proportionate expense 
 of living, and that, when such a statement could be safely hazarded, 
 they even assured the recruits that the disputes at Preston had been 
 amicably concluded, and that only a few extra hands were wanted to 
 supply the vacancies in the mills. It is quite certain that many of 
 these immigrants, after their arrival in Preston, complained bitterly 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 235 
 
 of having been deceived, and expressed considerable surprise on 
 ascertaining the real position of affairs there. In opposition to these 
 tactics of the Masters' Association the delegates were not idle. On 
 the Monday after the issue of the foregoing placard, about sixty per- 
 sons were brought by train from Manchester, under the care of one 
 of the agents of the Masters' Association; but before they could be 
 got away from the station, and in their progress through the streets of 
 the town, most of them were induced to leave their conductors, and 
 accompany the emissaries of the unionists, by whom they were led 
 in triumph to the "Farmer's Arms," where they were treated to meat 
 and drink, and then sent back again to Manchester. In order to 
 prevent a repetition of this, the Association hired a house closely 
 approximating to the railway station, which they fitted up and called 
 " The Factoet iMsiiaEAi^Ts' Home" — which title was paintedupon 
 a sign-board and conspicuously fastened over the door of the house. 
 In jts immediate results, the experiment was not very successful ; 
 for by far the larger proportion of the immigrants were utterly use- 
 less to the masters. The correspondent of a London journal, 
 writing from personal observation, gave the following picture of the 
 immigrants : — 
 
 " The Irish, who were the first to arrive, presented a picture of 
 wretchedness and squalor which it would be difficult, if desirable, to 
 realize. It is not easy to imagine how such a collection of filthy 
 unfortunates could be got together, and their state may be imagined 
 when it is known that forty of them are so bad that the masters can 
 make no use of them. An empty house opposite the railway station 
 has been converted into a sort of barracks for the reception of the 
 immigrants, and a policeman who entered this place on the morning 
 after the arrival of the Irish, left it immediately nauseated to sick- 
 ness. Some of the recruits from the north of England are more 
 satisfactory, and some families from Buckinghamshire seem clean, 
 healthy, and respectable. On Monday some amusement was created 
 by the arrival of a batch of female volunteers, rather gaily attired, 
 and with veils ; they seemed very much amused at the adventure, 
 and it is thought that they will not stick to weaving very long. 
 Many stories are afloat about the conduct of the immigrants, espe- 
 cially the Irish. Some of those who fell to the lot of an associated 
 master are said to have celebrated their advent by procuring a little 
 whiskey, upon the strength of which they thrashed an overlooker; 
 others said that they needn't expect them to get up at six o'clock in 
 the morning ; in another factory, the new comers are said to have 
 run away in a fright directly the machinery was put in motion. At 
 one mill, this morning, nine of the Irish turned out, on the ground 
 that they had not been furnished with sufficient food, and certainly 
 their condition seemed most deplorable. . . . The expense to the 
 masters must be enormous." 
 
 Next week, the same correspondent wrote : — 
 
 " On Monday morning, thirty -five low Irish were brought from 
 Manchester. I happened to be at the station when their efiects 
 
236 Account of the 
 
 were being removed from the train, and I saw bedding so full of 
 vermin that the porters bad to scald the trucks, and even the pave- 
 ment of the station with boiling water. The railway officials are 
 greatly to be blamed for permitting such filthy goods to be trans- 
 ported. Some of the Associated Masters meet the trains by which 
 immigrants are expected, attended by a great posse of police, firemen, 
 and specials. The polite manner with which these otherwise haughty 
 gentlemen hand the females out of the carriages, inquiring after their 
 bundles, and even dandling the babies, affords considerable amusement 
 to the bystanders." 
 
 The importation of this mass of filth and pauperism into the town 
 became a grave question with some of the middle-class inhabitants, 
 who gave vent to their feelings on the point in the following petition 
 to Parliament : — 
 
 " To the Honourable the Commons of Great Britain and Ireland 
 in Parliament assembled. 
 
 " The petition of the undersigned Inhabitant Householders and Eate- 
 payers of the Borough and Township of Preston, in the County 
 of Lancaster, 
 " Humbly Showeth, — That your petitioners have noticed the intro- 
 duction into your Honourable House of a bill to abolish in England 
 and Wales the compulsory removal of the poor, on the ground of 
 settlement, and to make provision for the more equitable distribution 
 of the charging of relief in unions. That under ordinary circum- 
 stances your petitioners would have hailed the introduction of such 
 a measure with great satisfaction, but under the present peculiar 
 situation of the town, your petitioners believe that unless the 
 borough and township of Preston is specially exempted from the 
 provisions of the said bill, that it will bring ruin upon a large portion 
 of the respectable ratepayers. That the present extraordinary con- 
 dition of the town arises from the importation of a large number of 
 unskilled pauper labourers, brought into the town and located at the 
 instance of a combination, styling itself the Associated Masters of 
 Preston. That the respective members of the before-named combi- 
 nation, acting under the style or denomination of the 'Associated 
 Masters of Preston,' binds each of its members by a bond to obey all 
 orders passed by a majority of its members, failing in which the 
 respective members render themselves liable to a penalty of £5000 
 each. That the unskilled paupers now being introduced into the 
 town of Preston by the before-named combination, will, under the 
 proposed measure for the abolition of compulsory removals, ultimately 
 become irremovable paupers chargeable upon the poor's funds, and 
 thereby increase the poor's rates of the township of Preston to a 
 most alarming extent, and bring to want and beggary a large body of 
 those ratepayers who are now independent. That your petitioners 
 therefore pray your Honourable House to insert a clause into the said 
 measure specially exempting from its operations the township of 
 Preston, and thus avert the impending ruin, which, without such 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 237 
 
 exemption, will fall upon the town by the flood of pauper labourers 
 now being imported into it from the distant counties of England, in 
 addition to a large number of paupers from Ireland. And your 
 petitioners will ever pray." 
 expected from the north; the firm to which they were consigned 
 
 On Thursday evening, the 2nd of March, some immigrants being 
 thought it necessary to provide vehicles and an array of police to 
 escort them from the railway station. This unusual demonstration 
 attracted a crowd of idlers (principally lads and lasses), and the result 
 was, that when the immigrants arrived, some mud and stones were 
 discharged at the vehicles. The windows of an omnibus were 
 smashed, and the counting-house windows of the firm suffered some 
 damage. To this very unwise and illegal proceeding the arrival of a 
 few police put a speedy end. Next morning, some Irish immigrants 
 were expected to arrive at the railway station, and on this occa- 
 sion the Mayor, accompanied by the Town-Clerk and other muni 
 cipal dignitaries, proceeded with a posse comitatus of the police 
 and fire-brigade to receive them. A large crowd was attracted ; but 
 the concurrent testimony of all independent observers, and even of 
 the police themselves, certainly goes to prove that the attitude of that 
 crowd was pacific. It had simply been attracted by curiosity, and 
 was composed for the most part, indeed, of operatives, but with a 
 considerable admixture of respectable townspeople. Under the 
 impulse of what motives, therefore, the Mayor was induced to read 
 the Riot Act, it seems impossible to discover ; but we only re-echo 
 an opinion at that time very loudly and generally expressed, that the 
 reading of the Riot Act was a most dangerous and unjustifiable pro- 
 ceeding, and one which put in great peril the peace of the town. 
 
 Immediately after this, and after the military at Fulwood Barracks 
 had been put under arms, the following proclamation was issued, to 
 justify what had taken place in the eyes of the public : — 
 
 " Borough of Preston, in the County of Lancashire. 
 
 " Whereas public meetings have been holden in the said borough, 
 at which inflammatory speeches have been made, and language uttered, 
 having a tendency to cause a breach of the peace, and the commission 
 of other offences : And whereas a serious riot has already taken place 
 in the said borough : And whereas large numbers of persons continue 
 to assemble and gather together, to the great terror of the peaceably 
 disposed inhabitants of this borough : And whereas a proclamation 
 under the Riot Act has this day been read within the said borough; 
 Notice is hereby given, that all such meetings and assemblages are 
 unlawful, and are hereby prohibited ; and all persons are warned not to 
 assemble and congregate together in the public streets or places within 
 the said borough, as they will answer the contrary at their peril. 
 " By order of the Mayor and Magistrates of the Borough of Preston, 
 
 "Thos. Dodd, 
 " Clerk to the Magistrates of the said Borough. 
 
 " March Srd, 1854." 
 
238 Account of the 
 
 Now there was but one statement in this document which was not 
 almost, if not entirely, without foundation. In the first place, so far from 
 the utterance of language "having a tendency to cause a breach of the 
 peace, and the conunission of other offences," the watchwords of the de- 
 legates had up to this tune been Peace — Law — asio Oedek. As 
 has been before recorded, the Preston manufacturers, only a few weeks 
 previously, in memorialising Lord Palmerston to protect them from 
 the Blackbuin mob, bore testimony to the peaceful and orderly demean- 
 our of the Preston operatives. Again ; what ground was there for 
 saying that "a serious riot" had taken place? Surely the smashing 
 of the omnibus windows on the jjrevious evening could not be so con- 
 sidered, and that it could not was sufficiently proved by the acquittal 
 of one of the youths charged with the offence at the assize, and the lenient 
 sentence of one month's imprisonment upon another. It is to be 
 feared, however, that the animus of these measures is to be discovered 
 in the prohibition of those meetings within the borough which had 
 hitherto exercised so powerful an influence in fanning the flame of 
 agitation. 
 
 The committee of the operatives, anxious to avoid giving any excuse 
 for more extreme proceedings against them, were most strenuous in 
 their endeavours to pacify the now excited feelings of the people. 
 
 The Spinners' committee issued a proclamation to the effect that — 
 
 " The time has at length arrived when every man, woman, and child 
 is particularly requested to do their duty. Our struggle has attained 
 its four-and-twentieth week, and it is most desirable that all legal 
 means possible should be tried to bring about, or anything tending 
 thereto, a settlement of this unparalleled dispute. This is, theee- 
 FOEE, TO GIVE Notice, that any person or persons violating the 
 peace of the town in any way whatever, either by surrounding the 
 entrances of the various mills working, or calling the parties therein 
 employed certain names, or assembling in crowds in the streets, or 
 in any other way violating the peace, such person or persons shall 
 in no ways whatever receive our sympathy and support, or be the 
 least countenanced for such illegal proceedings." 
 
 The Weavers issued a similar document, adjuring the people, " for 
 your own sakes, and for the sake of your cause, do not find the 
 policeman a job, do not assemble together at the corners of streets or 
 near any of the mUls in the town ; go quietly on your ways." 
 
 After the prohibition of public meetings within the borough, 
 meetings were held at certain convenient spots either immediately 
 outside the borough, or at some position so central that the attend- 
 ance from several towns would swell the concourse to the dimensions 
 of a "monster meeting." Some of these meetings were held on 
 Sunday, and the following description by an eyewitness of two held 
 under Hoghton Tower (nearly equidistant between Preston and 
 Blackburn) may not be deemed uninteresting : — 
 
 " Saturday's meeting was attended by five bands of music, and when 
 the Blackburn labourers (freed from their labours by two o'clock, as 
 is the custom on Saturday afternoons) filed along the high road into 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 289 
 
 the field of meeting, and met their Preston brethren for the first 
 time since the commencement of this memorable struggle, the shout 
 of welcome and congratulation might have been heard miles away. 
 Divesting the incident of all poetry, and viewing it simply as the 
 meeting of several thousands of the poor to hear some very indiiFerent 
 speaking in the open air, it was no less grand and touching. For 
 those thousands were bound together by a community of purpose — 
 a conamunity which has successfully resisted the extremes of priva- 
 tion during six months. One-half of that multitude has given up its 
 all, upon the faith of support which has been freely rendered out of 
 the slender earnings of the other half, and all for the accomplishment 
 of an object. If the orators were not skilled and elegant, at least 
 they were in earnest, and, right or wrong, were inspired hj a pro- 
 found conviction of the honesty and justice of their cause. The 
 deportment of the multitude was remarkably qixiet and orderly, and, 
 after the first shout of welcome, nothing like clamour was to be heard. 
 At Sunday's meeting this discreet self-control was even more con- 
 spicuous. As the afternoon was very warm and sunny, I drove to 
 the place of meeting in an open vehicle. All the way from Preston 
 to Hoghton the road was thronged with multitudes as densely as that 
 to Epsom on the Derby day, but all so quiet and peaceful, as if they 
 were going to church. From Blackburn, and through Blackburn, 
 from the remotest corners of East Lancashire, yet vaster multitudes 
 were pressing towards Hoghton in an opposite direction. When I 
 arrived at the place of meeting, it was thronged by an immense and 
 still increasing crowd. Soon after this a train of thirty-two carriages, 
 alive with people, came rolling in from Preston, drawn by two loco- 
 motives ; when this had discharged its living freight, a similar convoy 
 arrived from East Lancashire ; and as these new crowds poured down 
 from the station, a murmur of wonder seemed to thrill through the 
 multitude, asking when their complement would be full." 
 
 About this time, a transaction was made public which afforded a 
 curious instance of the coercion exercised by the masters upon each 
 other. It appeared that a member of the Association had come to 
 some private arrangement with his hands, who returned to work 
 with the consent of the general body on strike. This aroused sus- 
 picion, and the report soon spread abroad that he had made concessions. 
 Some said that he had agreed to give a bonus of a shilling per warp 
 upon a stock of old warps, and that the shilling was, in effect, ten 
 per cent, and that the stock of old warps was likely to last for some 
 time. However that may have been, the Association demanded an 
 explanation from Mr. S , and published the following placard. 
 
 " It being currently circulated that Mr. J. S has made arrange- 
 ments with his hands differing from those oflPered at the other 
 mills of the Associated Masters, the committee beg to state that, in 
 reference to such reports, the following note has been received from 
 him. 
 
 "By Order of the 
 " Committee of the Associated Masters. 
 
240 Account of the 
 
 " Mills, Preston, 
 
 " 13M March, 1854. 
 " The hands, on resuming work at these mills, are to be paid our 
 March list of prices. 
 
 "John S ." 
 
 This called forth a rejoinder from some of Mr. S 's hands — 
 
 " It having been stated (and very erroneously) by the Associated 
 Masters, in a bill posted on the walls this morning, that Mr. J. 
 
 S 's hands had resumed work at March prices, we request 
 
 that the Associated Masters will not trouble themselves respecting 
 the prices or terms on which we have commenced work, for we have 
 pleasure in stating that these terms are mutually satisfactory to" both 
 the employer and employed. 
 
 " Signed on behalf of the hands — 
 
 Ellen vS . 
 
 Mart A. S . 
 
 Mart J . 
 
 Agnes W- 
 
 JOHN N- 
 
 But next week Mr. S 's mill was once more deserted, and it 
 
 was generally understood that this was caused by a threat of legal 
 proceedings to recover the £5000 bond. 
 
 And now, when the effects of the masters' policy were beginning 
 to tell against the operatives, when the spirit which had hitherto 
 animated them was beginning to fail, and the subscription lists (sinews 
 of the war) were exhibiting signs of decay, the Masters' Association 
 took a course which had the immediate effect of rousing all the dor- 
 mant spirit of the operatives, and fanning the smouldering embers of 
 public sympathy in their favour into a flame : they arrested the lead- 
 ing delegates on a charge of conspiracy. During Saturday, the 1 8tli 
 of March, and all the following Monday, it was known throughout 
 the town that Mr. Ascroft, the Town-Clerk, and professional adviser to 
 the Masters' Association, was closeted with the Mayor and magis- 
 trates, and a rumour oozed out that it was in contemplation to take 
 the delegates into custody upon some charge or other. On Monday 
 morning, an open-air meeting of the operatives was announced to be 
 held in a field behind the Bridge Inn, Penwdrthan Bridge (without 
 the borough) ; some two thousand of the unemployed repaired thither, 
 and were harangued by Cowell, who infonned them that the lessee 
 of the field had been compelled to refuse them a standing upon his 
 grounds. He then referred to the possibility of his arrest, and im- 
 pressed upon the people the paramount importance of keeping the 
 peace in spite of every provocation. Between nine and ten o'clock 
 that evening, five of the delegates were arrested (Cowell, G-rimshaw, 
 Waddington, Gallaher, Laing, and Gardner) ; next morning, Wood 
 and Blocklehurst voluntarily surrendered, and in the course of the day 
 Parkinson, Dolphin, and Gregson, who were also included in the 
 warrants, were forthcoming. Fearing an outbreak when the opera- 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 241 
 
 tives came to hear this startling intelligence on the Monday morning, 
 the Weavers' committee printed and posted during the night the fol- 
 lowing proclamation : — 
 
 " Whereas our leaders have been apprehended by the magistrates, 
 upon a charge not yet known, we adjure you most earnestly that, as 
 you value the cause for which you have so long and so nobly fought, 
 you will KEEP THE PEACE, and not suffer the excitement of the 
 moment to betray you into the slightest offence against the law. To 
 create a disttjebance is all that is wanted, for the soldiers are pre- 
 pared to shoot you down in the streets. There is a law in England 
 greater and wiser than that of the Preston magistrates, and we will- 
 ingly entrust ourselves and our rights to that law. 
 " By Order of the 
 
 "Power-loom Weavers' Committee." 
 
 In addition to this, they adopted several precautionary measures. 
 They sent special bellmen round the town early in the morning to 
 announce the fact of the arrest, and to exhort the people to be peace- 
 ful ; and they appointed several members of their body to mix with 
 the crowd and aid the police in the preservation of order. Whether 
 it was in consequence of these measures, or of the strong restraint 
 which the prudence of the people imposed upon their feelings, it 
 would be difficult to determine ; but it is a fact that, although for 
 the three days occupied by the examination of the delegates before 
 the magistrates, the greatest excitement of feeling prevailed, although 
 immense crowds of operatives surrounded the Town-Hall during the 
 progress of the examination; although the passage of the defendant 
 delegates through the streets was hailed like a triumph ; yet during all 
 that time, and amid all that excitement, not the most trivial event that 
 could by the most partial ingenuity be converted into a disturbance 
 occurred. Those crowds stood round the Town-Hall silent, earnest, 
 and impassive; when their favourite leaders appeared each evening,, 
 after their liberation upon bail, they gave one enthusiastic cheer;, 
 and five minutes after these leaders had addressed them in a few^ 
 temperate words, urging them to go peacefully to their homes, the ■ 
 space which they had occupied was utterly deserted. 
 
 The charge upon which these men were arraigned was (to quote 
 the words of the warrant), for having molested and obstructed certain 
 persons hired by cotton spinners to work in their trade and business. . 
 and for having forced and endeavoured to force the said persons 
 so hired to depart from their said hiring. The case against seven 
 of the defendants rested mainly upon the incident already related ; 
 when a number of immigrants brought from Manchester were- 
 induced to leave their conductors and eventually return to Man- 
 chester. The case against Parkinson, Dolphin, and Waddington 
 rested upon their having met a consignment of one hundred and forty- 
 one Irish at Fleetwood, and having succeeded in persuading one hun- 
 dred and one out of that number to return to Belfast. So far as the 
 facts went, there appeared to belittle doubt about them; the reported 
 speeches of the defendants themselves, the items of expenditure 
 
242 Accou7it of the 
 
 entered in tlie published balance-sheets, and the concurrent testimony 
 of witnesses, did not leave room for a doubt about the fact that 
 the delegates had ," persuaded" certain persons hired to depart 
 from their hiring. Evidence of " force" there was none, and the 
 o-ravamen of the charge evidently lay in the assumption that the kind 
 of persuasion used by the delegates had exceeded the bounds per- 
 mitted by the law. One of the legal advisers retained for the defence 
 (Mr. Noble) quoted from the case of The Queen v. Selsby and others 
 the following dictum of Lord Cranworth, then Mr. Baron Rolfe : 
 
 " Workmen may meet and say, ' We will not work for such and 
 such a sum, and if parties think to employ us on low wages, we 
 agree we will not work for them, and we agree to form a fund and 
 support one another until we get them to come to proper terms.' It 
 is doubtless lawful for people to agree among themselves not to 
 work except upon certain terms ; that being so, I am not aware of 
 any illegality in their peaceably trying to persuade others to adopt 
 the same view. If it is lawful for half a dozen people to agree 
 together and say, ' We will not work unless Messrs. Jones and Potts 
 (the prosecutors in that case) raise our wages,' so it is perfectly 
 reasonable to say to a third man, ' You had better not do that too,' 
 if they do not use threats to deter him from doing it. My opinion is, 
 that if there were no other object than to persuade people that it 
 was their interest not to work except for certain wages, and not to 
 work under certain regulations, complied with in a peaceable way, it 
 was not illegal." 
 
 Even from the evidence for the prosecution it was shown that the 
 defendants had consistently and earnestly recommended obedience 
 to the law, and altogether there seems to have been no ground for 
 doubting that if the defendants had really oifended against the law 
 in the nature and degree of their persuasion, they had done so 
 ignorantly. 
 
 After an examination lasting three days, the magistrates decided 
 upon sending the defendants to be tried at the Liverpool Assizes 
 then sitting, and the legal conductor of the prosecution made the 
 most strenuous endeavours to bring the case before a jury on Monday, 
 the 28th of March, — eight days after the arrest of the defendants. 
 On the application, however, of the counsel for the defendants, the 
 trial was postponed until the autumn assizes, when (the contest 
 being over) the proceedings were abandoned by the prosecutors. 
 
 One peculiarity about these prosecutions was the secrecy with 
 which the attack was prepared, and the evident haste to bring the 
 defendants to trial at the assizes then sitting. Although the prose- 
 cutors had nearly a month to prepare their evidence, and the arrest 
 of the defendants was postponed until within five days of the latest 
 moment at which an indictment could be sent to Liverpool, and 
 although the defendants had only eight days to rebut an elaborate 
 case, and to prepare all the machinery of their defence, a strenuous 
 effort was made to bring the case on for trial at once and without 
 delay. So confident did they feel that this could be effected, that the 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 243 
 
 briefs for the prosecution were prepared, and fees paid to counsel ; 
 and, it was said, this futile proceeding cost the Masters' Association 
 nearly £700. Happily, however, for the defendants, they had to 
 deal with a high-minded judge ; for Mr. Justice Cresswell declared 
 that he thought the public would hold the trial to have been unfair 
 if proceeded with then. 
 
 There can be no doubt that public feeling at the time sided very 
 warmly with the defendant delegates. With English hatred against 
 oppression, many of the middle classes of Preston, who had 
 before been inclined to condemn these men, now came forward and 
 subscribed money to pay for their defence. A defence fund was 
 organized and rapidly swelled to a considerable amount. In the 
 parlour of one inn £15 was contributed in the course of a single 
 evening. A common labourer walked into Preston and laid down a 
 sovereign before the treasurer of the fund. When the defendants 
 went to Liverpool they were received with great enthusiasm by the 
 working-classes of that town, and when the result of their application 
 for the postponement of the trial was known, the congratulations 
 and more solid tributes which poured in upon them seemed end- 
 less ; while so great was the impulse given to the pecuniary 
 contributions, that the balance-sheet for the week after the arrest 
 showed an advance of £700 over that of the previous week, and a 
 greater total sum than had been subscribed for any one week with 
 the single exception of the Christmas week. 
 
 While these events were proceeding the Masters' Associ- 
 ation held its adjourned meeting, and passed thefollowing resolu- 
 tions : — 
 
 " That this meeting regrets that the continued unwillingness of 
 many of the operatives to resume work has forced upon the masters 
 the necessity of importing a large number of hands from other dis- 
 tricts ; that it approves of the course hitherto so successfully adopted, 
 and is determined to persevere in the same until the mills are fully 
 at work ; that it pledges itself to afford protection and constant em- 
 ployment to all persons engaged. 
 
 " 2. — That this meeting deems it unnecessary to call the Associated 
 Masters together, as heretofore, from month to month ; and, there- 
 fore, at its rising, do adjourn to this day three months, namely, 
 Thursday, the 22nd June next." 
 
 It is to be feared that there was more of pique than of judgment 
 in the prolonged adjournment for three months. The operatives 
 eplied to it by adjourning for six months. 
 
 Meantime, the immigration continued to be carried on, but not 
 prosperously ; the people sent in became daily more conspicuous for 
 filth and worthlessness ; many of them arrived in a state of drunk- 
 enness, and not a few sold the clothes which they recei\ ed on 
 their arrival. Out of 127 persons imported during the week ending 
 April 1st, twenty-seven were returned as utterly useless ; during the 
 same week twenty more of the immigrants were sent back by train, of 
 whom two were lunatics. About this time, an accident occurred at one 
 
 e2 
 
244 Account of the 
 
 of the mills, wliicli proved the folly (not to say cruelty) of putting 
 unskilled hands to superintend complicated machinery. An immigrant 
 from Buckinghamshire was entrusted with the management of a self- 
 acting mule, and one of his /legs was torn off by the mechanism. 
 
 On the evening of Wednesday, the 29th of March, a final endea- 
 vour was made by the townspeople of Preston to bring the dispute 
 to a close by means of a compromise. A meeting was convened at 
 the Theatre, at which a committee was appointed, for the purpose of 
 operating upon the parties by mediation. This was called the 
 Mediation Committee, and besides the members of the town and 
 the vicar, several resident gentlemen were named ; in some cases, 
 however, without the previous consent of the parties. How far this 
 body (or rather those few among them who acted) succeeded in gain- 
 ing the attention of the masters may be inferred from the following 
 published correspondence : — 
 
 EEPOET rOKWAJBDED BY W. COELESS, ESQ., TO T. MILLEE, ESQ. 
 
 " The Mediation Committee, which was nominated at the public 
 meeting held in the Theatre on the 29th of last March, met for the first 
 time on Tuesday evening, the 4th of April. It will be proper here to 
 remark, that two or three persons who were nominated at the meet- 
 ing declined to act as members of the committee. 
 
 " At its first meeting the committee resolved that proposals should 
 be obtained from the operatives as to the terms on which they would 
 resume work; and that the Rev. J. O. Parr, the vicar (who ofliciated 
 as chairman of the committee), should endeavour to ascertain the views 
 of the employers in respect to the proffered mediation. 
 
 " The second meetingof the committee was held on Tuesday evening, 
 the 11th of April, when the report of the vicar and the proposals of 
 the operatives were received. The Operative Spinners proposed to 
 accept an average rate of wages, high and low, paid in the principal 
 manufacturing districts of Lancashire. The Weavers were willing 
 to abide by any one of the four following conditions : — 1st. They would 
 resume work at the prices that were paid when the mills were closed. 
 2nd. They would resume work at the prices now offered by the 
 employers, provided that within a certain specified and reasonable 
 period, say a fortnight, the emjjloyers would give them the same 
 wages they were receiving Avhen the mills were shut up. 3rd. They 
 would, like the Operative Spinners, accept an average rate of wages, 
 high and low, paid in the principal manufacturing districts of 
 Lancashire. 4th. They would agree to arbitration, and would 
 pledge themselves that in the event of the arbitrators deciding in 
 favour of the prices at present offered by the employers, they would 
 immediately return to work. 
 
 " The vicar, on behalf of the employers, intimated that 'from in- 
 quiries I have made, I am convinced of the inutility of any attempt 
 at mediation on the factory question.' " 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 245 
 
 ANS'WER OF T. MILLEE, ESQ. 
 
 " W. CoELEss, Esq. Winoklet Sqxtahe, Apnl 15, 1854. 
 
 " Dear Sie, — The note sent by you and Mr. Sliaw, along with the 
 report, will be laid before the committee of the Associated Masters, at 
 their next meeting on Monday morning. 
 
 " I am, dear Sir, yours faithfully, 
 
 "T. MiLLEE." 
 EEPLY OF THE ASSOCIATED MASTEES' COMMITTEE. 
 
 " Preston, llth April, 1854. 
 
 " Gentlemen, — ^I am directed by the committee of the Associated 
 Masters to say, that they have had a letter placed before them signed 
 by Messrs. Corless and G. Shaw, enclosing a report from a Mediation 
 Committee, appointed at the Theatre on the 29th ultimo. The com- 
 mittee believe that the gentlemen who have undertaken this task are 
 actuated by the most disinterested motives, and a sincere desire to 
 effect the object for which they were appointed. 
 
 " The only matter now in dispute between the masters and the 
 operatives is the amount of wages to be paid. It is simply the offer 
 of certain wages by one party, and the refusal of them by the other. 
 
 " This same difference might, and no doubt daily does, exist between 
 master and servant in all other trades, as well as in domestic circles. 
 
 " Rates of wages cannot be settled by mediation, but must be left 
 to the free operation of supply and demand. 
 
 " The committee cannot therefore recommend the Associated Mas- 
 ters to accede to any mediation in such a case, as it would be the 
 acknowledgment of a principle most dangerous and mischievous in its 
 tendency — a principle alike subversive of the rights of the working 
 man in the disposal of his labour, and of the rights of the master in 
 the employment of his capital. 
 
 " The committee, entertaining these views, respectfully decline, on 
 the part of the Associated Masters, the proposed mediation. 
 " I am, Gentlemen, your obedient servant, 
 
 " Jas. a. Ewan, Secretary. 
 
 " Messrs. W. Coblbss and G. Shaw, Hon. Secretaries to a 
 Mediation Committee, 326, North Eoad, Preston. 
 
 EEPLY OP THE MEDIATION COMMITTEE. 
 
 " Preston, April 19, 1854. 
 " To Mb. J. A. Etpan, Secretray to the Masters' Association. 
 
 " SiE, — We are requested by the Mediation Committee to acknow- 
 ledge the receipt of your note, in which you courteously state the 
 determination of the committee of the Associated Masters to decline 
 any services which it might be in the power of the Mediation Com- 
 mittee to give. They deeply regret this determination, especially 
 so, as in their opinion the reasons you allege on behalf of the com- 
 mittee of the Associated Masters will not bear the test of any very 
 strict or profound investigation. 
 
 " The Mediation Committee, in accepting offices imposed upon them 
 by the unanimous consent of a large assemblage of their fellow-towna- 
 
246 Account of the 
 
 men, liave had no intention of allowing themselves to be drawn into 
 any discussion concerning disputed points in political economy. In 
 reference, however, to your remarks about supply and demand they 
 cannot forbear expressing the opinion that the state of the town of 
 Preston is a striking exemplification of the fallacy of the doctrine 
 you have so unconditionally enunciated. Labour here is in great 
 demand, the supply is small, and yet the wages offered are consider- 
 ably less than such as were paid some six or seven months ago. 
 There are evidently other elements, not perhaps as yet well defined 
 or scientifically determined, that enter into the true solution of this, 
 question. 
 
 " You state that to admit of mediation, in such a case as this 
 would be the admission of a principle dangerous and mischievous in 
 its tendency. Such a supposition appears to the Mediation Com- 
 mittee to be based upon an exaggerated notion of the necessity of 
 defending and enforcing abstract individual rights. Now, abstract 
 personal rights, if rigidly enforced, tend not to the consolidation, but 
 to the dissolution of the bonds of society. Society, in short, is made 
 up of compromises. Moreover, there is a legal maxim, to the effect 
 that persons shall so use their property as not to injure the property 
 of others. Whether in law the maxim be sound or the reverse, it 
 evidently is so in equity and common sense. Now the skill, industry, 
 and capital of classes unconnected with this dispute are materially 
 damaged and depreciated by it; and they, in the opinion of the Me- 
 diation Conunittee, have a perfect right to use all legitimate means 
 in defence of their property — even to the extent of applying to Par- 
 liament for powers to do what our chivalrous allies the French are, 
 under similar circumstances, in the habit of doing, namely, to make 
 the settlement of this dispute compulsory. The Mediation Com- 
 mittee are sure that the members of the committee of the Masters' 
 Association will, upon calm consideration, coincide in the principles 
 now propounded, inasmuch as to hold the contrary would be equiva- 
 lent to maintaining that persons may, when they choose, appropriate 
 to themselves all the advantages which the institution of society 
 originates and secures, and repudiate the obligations of that institu- 
 tion when it suits their convenience to do so. 
 "We are. Sir, yours truly, 
 
 "W. CORLESS, t „ c , . ,. 
 
 (tp QrrA-w fMonorary Secretaries. 
 
 While affairs were in this position, and the public at large was 
 loudly reprobating the masters for their steady refusal to entertain 
 any proposition for a compromise, accident did for the Association what 
 the Association had never been able to do for itself — it gave a fatal blow 
 to the cause of the operatives. The gloomy prospects of trade, aggra- 
 vated by the Russian war, had at length induced the Stockport 
 masters to take off the conceded ten per cent., and the effect of the 
 measure was immediate. The Stockport operatives, proud of the 
 prestige of their former victory, were too exasperated at the reduction 
 to take further heed of the Preston contest, and either ignorant or 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 247 
 
 careless of the effect of their proceedings upon that dispute, they de- 
 termined to strike for a restoration of the advance. It was in vain 
 that the Preston delegates attempted to remonstrate, and pointed out 
 to the Stockport people that a divided battle would involve a defeat ; 
 the Stockport operatives would not listen, and even threatened 
 to puU the Preston operatives from the cart if they dared to advise 
 submission. Next week there was a large deficit in the funds sent to 
 Preston, and the weavers had to borrow £500. During the following 
 week the small and unimportant body of the Throstle-Spinners gave 
 in, and in bidding farewell to the agitation, the Tlirostle committee 
 thus expressed itself : — 
 
 " We regret to say that this, the thirty-first report, is the last we 
 shall issue. Henceforth the throstle-hands retire from the struggle to 
 obtain for factory labour its just reward. We cannot point out in the 
 limits of this address the causes and reasons why there has been left 
 to us no alternative. Suflice it to say, that in thus retiring, we feel 
 that our defeated claims are as just as they were on the first day we 
 appealed to our friends and the public. Those upon whom we have 
 principally depended have deemed it right that we should withdraw, 
 in order to strengthen other contending branches. We have done so. 
 We thank all friends for past kindness, and venture to hope the vic- 
 tory denied to the throstle-hands may be won by those branches who 
 are still contending for freedom and justice to factory labour." 
 
 The expedient of a loan was again resorted to, to prop up the 
 falling funds of the unionists, and the Amalgamated Committee raised 
 £400. In apportioning their funds among the various committees, 
 the Amalgamated Committee now deemed it expedient to exclude 
 the card-room hands, for reasons which they thus explained : — 
 
 " While upon the subject of the card-room hands, we may inform 
 the trades and the public that they and the throstle-spinners were in 
 receipt of nearly all our funds during the last month ; they were not 
 well supported by their fellows in other towns, and the consequence 
 was, that latterly a great number of them returned to their work at 
 the mills. We, therefore, in conjunction with the committees of 
 card-room hands and throstle-spinners, deemed it wise and judicious 
 to make a fresh disposition of the funds entrusted to us, and concen- 
 trate as much of our force as possible upon the weavers and spinners, 
 the principal contending parties, and the success of whose cause 
 must carry a universal victory, and be for the good of all." 
 
 To this decision the card-room hands demurred; but, as will be 
 seen by reference to the accounts of the Amalgamated Committee 
 (hereafter given), the card-room hands had received by far the largest 
 ehare of the funds in the disposal of that committee, and therefore they 
 could have little cause for complaint. The practical effect of this 
 was, however, to drive the card-room hands into submission, and they 
 accordingly withdrew from the contest. 
 
 It now became evident to everybody that the termination of the 
 contest was imminent. The spirit of the battle was broken, and the 
 rapid decadence in the supplies of money plainly indicated that the 
 
248 Account of the 
 
 contributing districts despaired of success. At the Sunday meeting 
 of the delegates, held on the 30th of April, at which meetings it 
 had previously been customary to make public delivery of the 
 monies brought in, it was evident that something was wrong, and 
 soon after the meeting had opened, the delegates for Padiham moved 
 an adjournment, in order that the delegates might have a private 
 consultation. At the private meeting it was resolved that the 
 weavers should surrender, and on the following morning it was 
 announced to a public meeting of all the operatives of Preston that 
 funds were not forthcoming in sufficient plenty to warrant a continu- 
 ance of the struggle. Mr. Cowell, pronouncing a sort of elegy over 
 the ten per cent, agitation, defended the conduct of himself and 
 colleagues in the following manner : — 
 
 " Though it may be said (said he) that we, on the present occasion, 
 have suffered a defeat, let me tell you, my respected friends, that had 
 it not been for this agitation, which we are now bringing to a close, 
 I feel perfectly satisfied that the operatives of Preston, Blackburn, 
 Stockport, Manchester, and every other manufacturing town in the 
 kingdom, would at this time have been working at a reduction of ten 
 per cent. I believe we have prevented a reduction taking place for 
 the next ten years, and that, if ever the time should come when another 
 reduction is contemplated, it will never come under the denomination 
 of a ten per cent. That cry has so often resounded in the ears of the 
 manufacturers of Preston, that they will for ever be disgusted when 
 they hear the name of 'ten per cent.' mentioned. While we now ad- 
 vise you to return to your employment, rest assured that whenever 
 a reaction takes place in the commercial affairs of this country, the 
 telling note shall again be sounded in Preston, ' Ten per cent, and no 
 surrender.' But you, the working bees of Preston, of Blackburn, and 
 of other towns and districts, must be prepared for the emergency, and 
 whenever the demand is made, if we have a good fund at our back, 
 it is my decided conviction that the employers will give the advance 
 rather than risk another turn-out. I have a word of advice to give 
 to the masters of Preston. When two contending armies meet, and 
 one has proved successful, I would ask the employers of Preston to 
 reflect whether it would be right for the victorious army to pursue 
 the enemy after they have grounded their arms, and ride roughshod 
 over them ? I hope the employers will take this advice. Now that 
 we have withdrawn from the field, I hope and trust they will be wil- 
 ling to open their gates, and let you resume your work. Cheer up, 
 lads and lasses. My heart is as warm in the cause as it was the first 
 day I sounded my voice for the ten per cent." In conclusion, the 
 speaker urged his hearers, when they got to work, to contribute Id. 
 each per week, in order that they might raise a fund which would 
 enable them at some future time to gain the object in struggling for 
 which they had now been defeated. 
 
 This address was received with the marked approbation and sym- 
 pathy of the multitude. 
 
 For a fortnight after this abandonment of the struggle on the part 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 249 
 
 of the weavers, an attempt was made by the spinners to carry it on 
 upon their own responsibility and the strength of their own resources. 
 This, however, was clearly impracticable. Although the spinners 
 were a compact body, had funds to fall back upon, and were indis- 
 pensable to the activity of the mills, it became obvious that 17,000 
 operatives could not be kept in a state of idleness by seven or eight 
 hundred men, and that unless the spinners speedily gave way, the em- 
 ployers would take measures to supply their places from elsewhere. 
 The spinners' committee made an endeavour to obtain special terms 
 from the Masters' Association, and applied for a conference ; but their 
 advances were sternly and haughtily repelled, and they were told 
 that if they were wishful for employment they must " seek for any 
 information at the respective mills." At last, a number of spinners 
 were brought over from Glasgow, and on Monday, the 1 5th of May, 
 the whole body of the Preston spinners applied for work at the dif- 
 ferent mills, and the strike was practically ended. 
 
 Thus came to an abrupt, though not unexpected termination, the 
 Preston labour-battle of 1853-4, after an obstinate resist ence of nearly 
 seven months ; a contest unprecedented in history, and which, if the 
 lessons of experience be not without effect, will never again be re^ 
 
 peated. 
 
 THE BALANCE SHEETS. 
 
 These documents were issued weekly by the various Committees, 
 who collected and distributed the funds subscribed for the relief of 
 the unemployed. There are seven long series of them issued by the 
 committees of weavers, spinners, card-room hands, throstle-spin- 
 ners, power-loom overlookers, non-member mill warpers, and tape 
 machine sizers, and a short series issued by the cloth lookers and 
 warehousemen. It will be seen by the following tables that they 
 account for the expenditure of sums, amounting in the aggregate to 
 £105,165 12s. 9d. ; and an endeavour has been made in framing 
 these tables, to show, in a concise and intelligible manner, whence 
 that money came, and what was its destination. Owing to the very 
 inartificial, and, in some cases, inaccurate manner, in which the 
 accounts were prepared, it has not been possible to balance them 
 with the nice exactness attainable in commercial balance-sheets pre- 
 pared by scientific accountants ; but considering the magnitude of the 
 sums dealt with, the inexperience of the Committees in the manage- 
 ment of such sums, and the typographical errors which it was 
 scarcely possible to avoid in the issue of such sheets, at such short 
 intervals, it becomes rather a matter of wonder that the errors are 
 so few and trivial, than of accusation against the framers of those 
 accounts. 
 
 The integrity of these balance-sheets has been so often called in 
 question, and so many and such grave doubts have been expressed 
 upon all sides as to the honesty of those who undertook the adminis- 
 tration of the funds, that a few observations upon these points will 
 nht be misplaced as they occur to us after a careful and dispassionate 
 examination of the accounts. In the first place, we think that it may 
 
250 Account of the 
 
 be taken for granted, that all sums of money (however small) contri- 
 buted to the funds were duly acknowledged in the balance-sheets. 
 If they had not been, discovery must have been immediate and fatal. 
 To assure ourselves of this, we need but to remember that many 
 thousands of copies of these balance-sheets were distributed through 
 the contributing districts ; that they were posted upon the walls of 
 every town, and lay upon the table of every alehouse, and found 
 their way into every work-room and shed throughout the Cotton 
 Districts ; that they were the principal sources through which the 
 delegates communicated to the operatives their reports upon the 
 progress of the agitation and inflamed them into renewed endeavours 
 and increased contributions. That every contributor would eagerly 
 scan those sheets for the acknowledgment of his own subscription 
 was certain, and failing to find it there, he would naturally demand 
 an explanation before sending any more money to the funds. Those 
 who were unable to read would get others to search the sheet for 
 them, and those who visited the Cotton District during the progress 
 of the agitation must have been familiar with the spectacle of a knot 
 of factory operatives eagerly surrounding some one who read over to 
 them the items in the balance-sheets of the week . 
 
 Another question, and as to which it is more difiicult to arrive at a 
 conclusion, is, whether the committees distributed in relief all the sums 
 which they set forth in the balance-sheets. It has been urged that if 
 these were dishonest men nothing would have been easier than to charge 
 for the relief of ten thousand persons when nine thousand only were 
 actually relieved, and it is certain that such general items as " (riven 
 to 2,800 distressed children," and " relieved Tpoor family " are of very 
 frequent occurrence in the items of expenditure, and are open to 
 grave suspicion ; but on the other hand, it should be known that the 
 accoimts were very carefully examined and very jealously audited by 
 those delegates from the active districts, who brought the money to 
 Preston, and who were interested, above all people in the world, in 
 seeing that the funds were honestly administered. The books of the 
 committees were at all times open to the inspection not only of the 
 uaionists, but of all who doubted the authenticity of the accounts, 
 and the name of every person who received relief from the funds of 
 the Union was entered in the book of his committee, and might at any 
 time have been checked. It is, of course, impossible to prove any- 
 thing with respect to this point ; but we incline to the opinion that the 
 sums charged as relief were really paid and rightly so charged. 
 
 The last point upon which these accounts are open to attack is 
 whether the disbursements are honestly set out ? Whether the money 
 spent in the expenses of the agitation was really devoted to the pur- 
 poses alleged in the accounts ? 
 
 In answering this question, it should be observed that there are 
 incident to every agitation expenses which are necessary, indeed, to 
 be incurred, but which would not look very well if plainly set out in 
 the accounts — such as are usually classed under the comprehensive 
 item " Sundries'' That description of service significantly called 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 251 
 
 secret, a little treating, perhaps too a little bribery, are seldom dis- 
 pensed with in the conduct of any agitation, whether the object be 
 reform, or the repeal of the Corn Laws, or the obtaining ten 
 per cent. It always has been and always will be so, and it is 
 therefore sheer prudery to carp at such expenses if kept within 
 reasonable bounds and confessed in the orthodox manner. Now 
 the delegates (being neither more nor less than common agita- 
 tors) were no more able to dispense with these weapons than older 
 and more respectable politicians, but they have not confessed the 
 fact in the orthodox way ; they have no constantly recurring item of 
 " Sundries, £100 ;" but they have endeavoured to conceal the secret 
 service money by lumping it up with other and more legitimate 
 expenses. Thus it is that we sometimes find that the items of "post- 
 age and stationery, are made to account for some hundreds of pounds, 
 and that we nevertheless find "postage stamps" and "one ream of paper" 
 as distinct items. In the accounts of the Amalgamated Committee, 
 the item " To sending parcels, balance-sheets, and handbills to 
 various places," absorbs no less a sum than £143 \\s. 4rf. within 
 twenty-one weeks ; and this same committee resorted to a still more 
 reprehensible method of concealing the actual amount of its expenses, 
 as will be seen upon referring to its accounts. But all this proves 
 not so much that the committee were dishonest as that they were 
 unskilful and unwise; and slow as we should be to screen any act of 
 peculation which admitted of unquestionable proof, it does not appear 
 that the proportion between the sums dealt with and the current 
 expenses of the agitation is such as to demand any special remark. 
 From the accounts hereafter set out, it appears that the sum ac- 
 tually dealt with amounted to £105,523, while the total expenses of 
 the agitation did not exceed £11,818 (about 1\\ per cent, upon the 
 principal) ; and when we take into consideration the nature of this 
 agitation, the manner in which that vast sum of money was collected, 
 almost by pennies and sixpences from loom to loom, and from cottage to 
 cottage ; when we think of the expenses of printing these thousands of 
 balance-sheets and the innumerable placards and broadsides which were 
 issued during the struggle ; when we remember the travelling expenses, 
 wages of collectors, rent of rooms, and the committees other legiti- 
 mate items of necessary expense, we think that this is not an ex- 
 cessive proportion. If it be asked whether it is not probable 
 that certain sums were misappropriated to support the delegates in a 
 more luxurious state of living than they had been accustomed to enjoy 
 when in regular work ? there can be little or no doubt about it 
 During the agitation many stories were set afloat to illustrate the free 
 manner in which these men were living, and it is likely that some of 
 these were founded upon fact ; laut let us ask those who collect 
 such anecdotes to the prejudice of the operatives and their cause 
 whether it was to be expected that an agitation of this sort could be 
 carried on without something of this occurring ; whether rude and 
 uneducated men finding themselves at the head of a great and popular 
 movement, put suddenly into a course of life involving great excite- 
 
252 Account of the 
 
 ment, frequent public speaking, and considerable personal fatigue, 
 could be expected to live as soberly as Cato, and as inflexibly honestly 
 as Aristides ? Let not this be misconstrued, let it not for one moment 
 be supposed that we are defending riot and excess, or the cruel waste 
 of funds provided for the famishing poor ; it is simply urged that 
 these evils were, to a certain extent, natural and unavoidable, that 
 they occurred with the full cognizance of those who alone have any 
 right to complain of them, and that their extent was not greater than 
 might have been expected by all who knew auj-thing about the course 
 of sindlar movements. To substantiate a charge of flagrant dishonesty 
 against the delegates, something more definite must be urged than the 
 vague charge of living well ; it should be shown that they conspired 
 to subtract sums of money from the funds for their own private benefit 
 and that they laid those sums by to enrich them when the struggle 
 should be over. This cannot be done ; and the very numbers 
 of those who were concerned in the administration of the funds is 
 the best assurance that no such peculation took place. To subtract 
 any important sum from the funds would certainly have required the 
 connivance of a great many men, every one of whom would have 
 required his share, and it is contrary to all human experience to believe 
 that such a robbery would have been committed without a disclosure 
 being made by some dissatisfied accomplice. Yet, although many 
 vague and general charges have been made against the committees, 
 not one single case has been proved or attempted to be proved against 
 them, and the only cases in which it is absolutely known that sums of 
 money have been subtracted from the funds were those which they 
 themselves discovered, and the perpetrators of which were reprobated 
 and pursued in the most energetic manner. And this brings us to 
 another point to be noticed in their favour, namely, whether it is likely 
 that the delegates would have made any stir against their defaulting 
 brethren if they themselves were open to the like charge ? It appears 
 to us that prudence, if not shame, would have kept them silent, and 
 that they would have hesitated to prefer a charge which might so 
 easily have been turned round upon themselves. 
 
 It must be concluded, therefore, that these balance-sheets are in the 
 main as correct and as trustworthy as any accounts kept by unskilled 
 men might be expected to be, perhaps more so ; that they set forth 
 truthfully all the moneys subscribed to the funds of the Union ; that 
 they account for those moneys fairly ; and that, although in some 
 cases they conceal the real nature of the expenses, those expenses 
 were natural and necessary, and do not exceed in the aggregate a fair 
 proportion of the sums administered. 
 
 As has been before stated, the balance-sheets supplied a very impor- 
 tant channel of communication between the operatives and their 
 leaders; they were in fact, the journals of the strike. A leading article, 
 or address, from the committee to the class which it rejJresented, gene- 
 rally speaking headed the sheet, and not unfrequently some song or 
 piece of poetry, sometimes extracted from the writings of Burns, or 
 Thorn, the Inverary weaver, or sometimes the production of some 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 253 
 
 native genius amongst themselves, preceded the dry detail of figures. 
 Even these last were enlivened by little outbursts of feeling crying 
 shame upon some laggard, or praise upon some munificent subscriber. 
 But these parentheses were not always innocent, seeing that they 
 might sometimes be construed into threats ; reference being frequently 
 made to one Punch, and also to Mrs. Punch, who were to pay the 
 defaulters a visit and work upon them ills which were anything but 
 obscurely hinted at : — 
 
 "If squinting Jack of Goodairs does not pay up in future. Punch will stand on his 
 corns." 
 
 " If those piecers at Dawson's new mill do not pay better, young Punch (old Punch's 
 urchin) will come and break their ends." 
 
 " If those three or four spinners do not pay their subscriptions. Punch will brir^g his 
 iron clogs." 
 
 Whether the iron clogs were or were not brought, it is certain 
 that towards the close of the agitation these indecent passages 
 altogether disappeared from the sheets. Sometimes the threats took 
 a more humorous form, but were doubtless quite as formidable to 
 the objects of them ; as for example : — 
 
 " If that black sheep Bob, at Brookfield Mill, does not keep his tongue still. Punch 
 says he will come and curl his hair before he goes to court Jenny Lind, that fine loom 
 weaver at Summer's Mill." 
 
 "Ifthatniger in Uncle Tom's Cabin does not pay up. Punch says he will tell what 
 he saw him do one night." 
 
 '■^ If that man at Baxter's Mill who borrowed a shilling from the barber, don't pay to 
 the Preston lock-oiits, next week. Punch will tell his wife about it." 
 
 " I say. Master Kershaw, how is it that you do not support your poor brothers inPres- 
 ' ton ? Suppose yourself married to that young lady who lives not 100 miles from Philip> 
 Ogden's, and be placed in their situation., how would you like it ? 3Ir. Punch is deter- 
 mined that if you don't lend a helping hand to Preston, he will say something about that 
 bottle you was drinking out of three times a day, and he will tell her the contents of that 
 bottle, and also the purpose that it was intended for ; so pay up, and let us have no more 
 of your sneaking ambition." 
 
 Occasionally these parenthetic appeals took a sarcastic turn ; as : — 
 
 ■' If William Townson would spend less money in drinking, carding, dog and cock 
 fighting. Punch thinks he might pay something to the Preston lock-outs." 
 
 " If that young spark, Ben D., that works at Baxter's Mill, does not pay to his trade. 
 Punch will tell about him eating that rhubarb pudding that was boiled in a dirty night 
 cap." 
 
 "7? Soger does notpay, Punch will tell about her robbing the donkey of its breakfast 
 to stuff her bustle with." 
 
 Occasionally, too, the remonstrances took a poetical form : 
 
 MILLS IN THE HYDES. 
 "Within these walls the lasses fair 
 
 Refuse to contribute their share ; 
 Careless of duty, blind to fame, 
 
 For shame, ye lasses, 0, for shame. 
 
 Come, pay up, lasses, think what's right. 
 
 Defend your trade with all your might, 
 For if you. don't the world will blame, 
 
 And cry, ye lasses, 0, for shame ! 
 Let's hope in future all will pay, 
 
 And Preston folks may heartily say, 
 That by your aid they have obtained, 
 
 The greatest victory ever gained. 
 
254 
 
 Account of the 
 
 THE POWEK-LOOM "VVBAVEES, 'WINDEES, AVAEPERS, TAVTSTEES, AJNTD 
 
 BEAMERS' COMMITTEE. 
 
 This Committee issued its first balance-sheet in the beginning of 
 September, and continued its labours until the end of May ; during 
 which time thirty-eight reports appeared. It originally distributed 
 its funds not only among the Preston weavers, but also among those 
 at G-reat Harwood who were then on strike ; the fourth and subse- 
 quent reports, however, were confined to the Preston accounts. The 
 total sum at the disposal of this committee was £64,200 6s. Ofc?., 
 and a district expenditure of £3,640 is also disclosed by the balance- 
 sheets ; out of this, £57,690 I4.s.2d. were disti-ibuted in relief among 
 the weavers, &c., and a further sum of £3,072 2s.'0\d. was transferred 
 to other funds distributed in miscellaneous relief. As set forth in 
 the reports, the disbursements and expenses of the delegates and 
 committees is scarcely 5 per cent, upon the total net income, and this 
 includes the expenses of the Propagandist Committee, a branch com- 
 mittee of five members " for agitating the country." The amount of 
 relief varied considerably during the progress of the struggle, com- 
 mencing at 5s. and 6s. for the weavers, and 3s. for the helpers ; 
 afterwards sinking to 4s. and 2s., then rising to 5s. 6d., and finally 
 sinking to 2s. 6d, and Is. The greatest number of persons relieved 
 in any one week was 10,121, which occurred in the week ending 
 24th December, 1853, about which time many persons were admitted 
 to participate in the funds of the Union who had long ceased work- 
 ing at the mills, through fear of their accepting the terms then 
 offered by the Masters' Association. 
 
 The series of balance-sheets issued by the Weavers' Committee is 
 thirty-nine in number, and they form altogether a very extensive 
 and complicated set of accounts. The concluding balance-sheets 
 disclose the fact that the close of the struggle left the Executive 
 Committee in debt to the amount of £1,006 10s. ; partly for money 
 borrowed, and partly for printing bills, &c. 
 
 Summary. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 Net Income as per Ba- 
 
 lanee-Sheets 64,199 13 lOj 
 
 Error in accounts 12 2 
 
 64,200 6 Of 
 
 £ 
 
 Distributed in relief 57,690 14 2 
 
 Disbursements 2,096 19 5i 
 
 ExpensesofCommittee,i&c. 1,102 13 IJ 
 Transferred and miscel- 
 laneous relief 3,072 2 OJ 
 
 Emigrating and removing 199 4 3 
 Balance in hand as per last 
 account 38 13 Oi 
 
 64,200 6 OJ 
 
 The balance-sheets also disclose district expenditure to the amount of £3,640. 
 THE HAND-MULE SPINNERS, AND SELF-ACTING MlNDEEs' COMMITTEE. 
 
 It has been before mentioned that the Spinners' Union has been in 
 existence ever since the great strike of 1836. At the commence- 
 ment of the late struggle they therefore found themselves in the 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 
 
 255 
 
 possession of a considerable reserve fund, from which they drew in 
 time of need, and out of which they were enabled to afford assistance 
 by way of loan to the weavers. The committee of spinners issued 
 thirty-three balance-sheets, extending from the 1st of October to the 
 13th of May, and during that time expended £19,839 %s. lid. As 
 in the case of the weavers, the sums charged as Disbursements and 
 the expenses of delegates and committees, do not amount to 5 per 
 cent, upon the principal. At the conclusion of the struggle, the 
 spinners had drawn upon their reserve fund to the extent of £693 
 Is. l\d., and money was due to them from the weavers. At the 
 commencement of the struggle 8s. per week was paid to the spinners, 
 4s. 6d. to the piecers, and 2s. 6d. to the creelers ; this was shortly 
 reduced to 7s., 3s. 6d., and 2s., which rate was kept up to the last. 
 The greatest number of hands relieved in any one week was 3,151, 
 which occurred in the week ending 25th February ; the fluctuation 
 in the number of hands relieved arose from the extension of relief to 
 a greater number of piecers, creelers, and bobbiners ; the number of 
 skilled spinners and minders decreased constantly by emigration from 
 847, the greatest number, to 785, the least. 
 
 Summari/. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 Net income, as per Balance, 
 
 sheets 19,082 19 9 
 
 Taken from Local Fund and 
 
 Northern District Fund 693 1 7i 
 
 £19,776 1 4+ 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Relief 18,203 11 2 
 
 Disbursements 475 15 8 
 
 Expenses of Delegates ... 878 1 8 
 Transferred to other funds, 
 
 &o 607 18 1 
 
 Emigrating and removing 109 15 3J 
 Error in accounts 19 11 
 
 £19,776 1 4} 
 
 District expenses, as disclosed by the Balance-sheets, £63 6s. %d. 
 BLOWING-EOOM AND CAED-EOOM HANDS* COMMITTEE. 
 
 The series of balance-sheets issued by this committee is thirty- 
 four in number, and sets forth the expenditure of £9,904 16s. 
 Nearly one-half of this sum was the proportion of public moneys 
 allotted to this Committee ; for to this body, on account of its 
 poverty, and the inability of its members in other districts to afford 
 much assistance, was allotted the greatest share of the public 
 moneys. The disbursements and expenses of the Committee, 
 as set forth by the sheets, amount to about 7 J per cent, upon 
 the principal. The greatest number of hands relieved was 2,301, 
 which occurred in the week ending the 18th of February. The 
 amount of relief given was very meagre; 2s. Qd. for the highest, 
 and to Is. for the lowest class of hands at the beginning of the 
 strike; advancing to 3s. Qd. and 4s. 6d., (which latter sum it never 
 exceeded), and finally sinking to Is. before the fear of starvation 
 drove the card-room hands to submission. 
 
256 
 
 Account of the 
 
 Summary. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Net income as per Balance- 
 
 slieets 9,739 16 
 
 £9,739 16 
 
 £ 
 
 a. d. 
 18 3 
 
 Disbursements 
 
 Expenses of Committee 
 
 and Delegates 369 12 lOJ 
 
 Relief 8,969 4 3 
 
 Balance in hand as per 
 
 last sheet 10 5 8i 
 
 Error in accounts 14 11 
 
 £9,739 16 
 
 District expenditure, £165. 
 THE THKOSTLE-SPINNERS, WINDEES, AND EEELERS' COMMITTEE. 
 
 The throstle- spinners were neither a very numerous nor a very 
 important body ; for the numbers relieved never exceeded 510 in 
 any one vp^eek, and the average was 434. This committee issued 
 thirty reports, and spent £2,476 15s. 9d., of which sum considerably 
 more than half was the share of public moneys paid to their account. 
 The amount of relief varied from 3s. 6d. and 2s. per week, to 4s. and 
 2s. 3d. The disbursements and expenses of the delegates were about 
 15 J per cent, upon the principal. This body, like the former, sub- 
 mitted through want of funds, and the withdrawal of the support 
 afforded to them by the Amalgamated Committee. 
 
 Summary. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Net income as per Balance- 
 sheets 2,419 2 4i 
 
 Balance due to Treasurer, 
 
 as per last sheet 7 1 
 
 Error in accounts, over- 
 charged 2 8 9i 
 
 £2,421 18 3 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Relief 2,048 6 4 
 
 Disbursements 197 1 11 
 
 Expenses of Delegates, &c. 176 10 
 
 £2,421 18 3 
 
 District expenditui-e, £54 17«. Gd. 
 
 THE POWEE-LOOM OTEELOOKEES' COMMITTEE. 
 
 This was a small, but highly important body, inasmuch as its 
 members exercised a great influence, both directly and indirectly, 
 over the general body of hands. This arose partly from their 
 official position, and partly from the fact that most of them were the 
 heads of large families of operatives. Throughout the whole of the 
 struggle the power-loom overlookers were most anxious to relieve 
 themselves of the responsibility of exercising their influence in 
 favour of either side, and constantly urged a friendly termination to 
 the dispute ; with this politic view they constantly spoke of them- 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 257 
 
 selves as thrown out of work " by a dispute over which they had no 
 control." The power-loom overlookers issued thirty-four reports, 
 accounting for the expenditure of £19,624 12s. M. The disburse- 
 ments and expenses of the committee amounted to a little over 
 ten per cent, upon the principal. The amount of relief varied 
 from 5«. to 6«., rising to Is. 6d. and 8s. 6d., and even to 10*. ; at 
 the close of the dispute it sank to 6s. 6d., and then to Ss. 6d. This 
 committee received no assistance from the Amalgamated Committee. 
 
 Summary. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 Net Income 1,964 12 9 
 
 £1,964 12 9 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Spent in relief 1,760 16 9 
 
 Disbursements 84 15 6 
 
 Expenses of Committee 
 
 and Delegates 118 14 8 
 
 Balance in hand, as per 
 
 last balance-sheet ... 5 10 
 
 £1,964 12 9 
 
 District expenditure, £115. 
 
 GENERAL BALANCE-SHEET OP THE TAPE MACHINE SIZERS. 
 
 The Tape Machine Sizers appear to have organized a fund previous 
 to the sti'ike ( Vide the Fifth Report) ; but, if that were so, they 
 only drew from it on one occasion. From the following statement 
 it appears that the total income of this body coming into Preston 
 amounted to £844 2s. 7d., the accounts also show that a further sum 
 of £10 5s. 9|d. was expended by the various district committees in 
 expenses incidental to the agitation. In the ninth week a strike at 
 Bury threw many of the Tape Machine Sizers there out of work, 
 afterwards many Stockport and a few Royton hands were placed in 
 the same predicament, and all these were relieved by the Preston 
 committee ; the number of strangers so relieved is, however, distin- 
 guished from the Preston hands in the proper column, by being 
 separately stated. The amount of relief varied from 14s. to 6s. per 
 week ; and in some cases, where the men had obtained other work, 
 sufficient relief only was given to bring their income to a level with 
 the rest. 
 
 Summary. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Relief 790 7 2 
 
 Ditto 28 5 7i 
 
 * Committees, &c 25 9 9i 
 
 £844 2 7 
 
 CLOTHWOEKERS' BOOK-KEEPEKS' AND WAKEHOTJSEMEn's ASSOCIATION. 
 
 This body only issued three balance sheets, the contents of which 
 may be briefly set forth as follows: — 
 
 * This sum Includes some of the expenses incurred by the district committees, 
 which are stated in the balance-sheets as though they formed part of the general 
 expenditure. 
 
258 Account of the 
 
 Summary^ 
 
 £ s. d. 
 Net income 192 3 UJ 
 
 £192 3 Hi 
 
 £, a. d. 
 
 Disbiirsemeats 18 17 10 
 
 Expenses 17 3 5J 
 
 Relief 146 9 6 
 
 Balance 9 13 2 
 
 £192 3 Hi 
 
 Expenses of the Blackburn Branch, £10 12«. Xi.d.; making a total of 
 £202 168. lOit?. spent by this committee. 
 
 The position in which this small but respectable body of men 
 found themselves was very analogous to that of the power-loom over- 
 lookers ; they were unwilling sufferers from the strike. Many of the 
 warehousemen and clothworkers were supported by their employers, 
 and made themselves useful in keeping the mills in order during the 
 inactivity of the machinery ; but some few were destitute of any 
 resource, and these received income from the Association. By their 
 resolutions passed in February, 1854, this Association declared that 
 its objects and intentions were: — 
 
 "1. Never on any occasion, either by word or action, to encourage 
 strikes : which, in themselves, we consider to be an evil, and inju- 
 rious to the wellbeing, not only of trade, but of society at large. 
 
 " 2. In all cases of strikes to stand on perfectly neutral ground, as 
 we have hitherto done. 
 
 " 3. The position which the members- of this Society hold, must 
 necessarily have told them from time to time, that inasmuch 
 as their supply of work depends greatly on the other branches of 
 operatives, insomuch they are obliged to stop work when they 
 (the operatives) strike : this therefore being the case, and seeing 
 that in times like the present we cannot rely with safety on any re- 
 sources but our own for support, the third object of this society is to 
 provide for its members when they are unwillingly thrown out of em- 
 ployment. In a word, the recognised objects and principles of our 
 Society are, the diffusion of social and intellectual intercourse amongst 
 all its members, and to provide them with that pecuniary aid and 
 assistance which they stand in need of in times like the present, and 
 which we, the Preston Brethren, have (during the last six months) 
 so much wanted." 
 
 There is perhaps more sound sense in these three resolutions than 
 in any resolutions passed by either jparty to the dispute during the 
 whole of its continuance. 
 
 THE AMALGAMATED COJIMITTEB. 
 
 This committee was formed for the purpose of collecting the 
 monies subscribed by the public and general trades. It issued 
 twenty-seven reports, and received altogether £11,932 6s. 3d. 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 259 
 
 The accounts of the Amalgamated Committee are highly interest- 
 ing, as showing the extent to which general trades, and the trades, 
 unions throughout the countryjoined in the contest. For the purpose 
 of illustrating this, an analysis of the monies received by the com- 
 mittee is subjoined, from which it will be seen that two-thirds of 
 these monies were sent by trades' unions. It should also be recol- 
 lected that as the Amalgamated Committee was not organized until 
 the latter end of the month of November, the subscriptions of trades' 
 unions would really be much larger than they appear in the accounts 
 of that Committee. 
 
 The funds received by the Amalgamated Committee were by them 
 divided among the weavers, spinners, cai'd-room hands, and throstle- 
 spinners, in proportion as they needed help : — the caxd-room hands, 
 as the most destitute, receiving the largest share of assistance. To- 
 wards the end of April, the Amalgamated Committee, seeing the 
 hopeless condition of the struggle so far as the card-room hands and 
 throstle-spinners were concerned, and deeming it better to devote 
 their whole strength to the support of the weavers and spinners, 
 divided all their funds between the latter bodies. 
 
 In comparing the balance-sheets of the Amalgamated Committee 
 with those of the committees among whom they divided their funds, 
 a marked discrepancy is observable between the sums charged by the 
 former and those 'acknowleged by the latter. These deficiencies 
 stand as follows i — 
 Charged by the Amalgamated Committee. Acknowledged hy the Committees. 
 
 £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 Weavers 2,524 7 9 2,297 4 3i 
 
 Spinners 2,010 12 2 1,607 5 4 
 
 Card-room hands 4,446 7 74 4,418 13 1 
 
 Throstles 1,549 9 8 1,515 4 9 
 
 10,530 17 24 
 9,838 7 54 
 
 ^£692 9 9 £9,838 7 54. 
 
 The explanation of this is, that the Amalgamated Committee, 
 conscious of the fact that their expenses were greater in proportion 
 than those of any other committee (as upon them principally fell the 
 weight of secret-service money, &c.), and intimidated by the attacks 
 made upon them in some of the public journals, endeavoured, with 
 the connivance of the respective committees, to conceal the real 
 amount of their expenditure by charging larger sums as paid to the 
 committees^ than actually were paid to them. This disingenuous means 
 of stating the accounts is excused upon the ground that, as the 
 money was paid on account of the diiferent committees, they had a 
 perfect right to represent it as paid to them ; but it would have been 
 far better to brave criticism upon the extent of their expenses than 
 to have opened so wide a loophole for remark as to the inaccuracy 
 of the accounts. By adding the above stated deficiency to the 
 expenses admitted by the Amalgamated Committee, we find that the 
 
 s 2 
 
260 Account of the 
 
 real amount of the expenses was £1,896 2s. 4Jrf., or about 15J per 
 cent, upon the amount which passed through their hands. 
 
 Analysis of the Income received by the Amalgamated Committee. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Amalgamated Societies of Engineers — Central and Branch* 1,120 12 8 
 
 Manchester office of Amalgamated Society 164 9 
 
 Block Printers of Surrey* and United Block Printers of Scotland ... GO 
 Boiler Makers of Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, H. M. 
 Dockyard Portsmouth, Portsea, Stoke-upon-Treut, Swindon, and 
 
 Woolwich 60 8 3 
 
 Boiler Makers and Iron Shipbuilders, the Executive Council of 
 
 Hulme and Manchester 202 12 1 
 
 Bricklayers of Bristol, Heywood, Hull, London,* Preston, Sheffield, 
 
 Wolverhampton 131 10 7 
 
 Brushmakers of Bristol and Preston, and the United Society of 
 
 England 65 5 8 
 
 Cabinet Makers of Birmingham, Bm-y, Bridgenorth, Bristol, Halifax, 
 Kidderminster, Lancaster, Leeds, London,* Manchester, Preston, 
 
 Rochdale, Wolverhampton, York 136 2 
 
 Carpenters and Joiners of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Gloucester, 
 Liverpool, London,* Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, North 
 London, Preston, Salford, Sheffield, Westminster, and Wolver- 
 hampton 288 14 IJ 
 
 Cart Wheelwrights of London* 10 
 
 Chairmakers and Carvers of London 20 
 
 Coachmakers of Ashford in Kent, Eedford,Bolton, Bristol, Carlisle, 
 Chester, Cork, Coventi-y, Derby, Exeter, *Friendly Society (Broad 
 Street, Golden Square, London), Grantham, Leicester, Manches- 
 ter, Newark, Nottingham, Peterborough, Preston, Sheffield, York, 
 
 United Society of, Wolverhampton 194 7 ll-J 
 
 Compositors' Society, London* 20 
 
 Coopers of Bristol, Liverpool, London*, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne 144 14 11 
 
 Corkcutters of London and Glasgow 23 
 
 Crate Makers in Burslem Potteries 54 
 
 Engineers of the Preston North Union Locomotive department 28 15 J 
 
 Engineers of Ashford, Bristol, Ipswich, London, and Portsmouth... 13 5 6 
 
 Eelt Hat Makers, Manchester 14 
 
 Finger Warpers, Manchester 10 
 
 Flaggers and Slaters of Preston 11 11 6 
 
 French Polishers, London* 11 
 
 Forgers — saw, scythe, fender and knife blade forgers of Sheffield... 58 
 
 Gold Beaters and Gilders of London* and Manchester 25 13 1 
 
 Glass Cutters of Birmingham, London, Manchester, Stourbridge, 
 
 andYork 57 1 
 
 Glass Makers of Dudley, Holyrood, Manchester, and York 35 6 8 
 
 Grinders of Sheffield, scythe and file 207 1 1 
 
 Hatters of Bristol, Carlisle, Edinburgh, London,* Oldham and 
 
 Stockport 89 19 5 
 
 * Those London trades against which asterisks are placed contributed more 
 money than is set against them in the foregoing analysis, which money forms part 
 of the £1,700 10«. Sd. received from the Metropolitan Trades' Committee, Bell 
 Inn, Old Bailey. At the outset of the agitation many of the London trades sent 
 their contributions direct to Preston, but afterwards contributed through the 
 medium of the Trades' Committee. As the expenses of that committee were de- 
 ducted from its aggregate receipts, and a balance usually remained in hand, it 
 would be difficult, if not impossible, to apportion the money received from the 
 committee among the different contributors. 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 261 
 
 £ a. d. 
 
 Hearth-rug Weavers of London 63 
 
 Hydraulic Packers of Manchester 30 
 
 Iron-wire Drawers of Barnsley and Birmingham 14 1 
 
 Millwrightsof Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, and Middlesborough... 84 10 8 
 Moulders of Barnsley, Bradford, Bridgewater, Brighton, Bristol, 
 Chester, Cleckheaton, Dartford, Derby, Edinburgh, Hanley, 
 Ipswich, Manchester, Middlesborough, Newcastle, Nottingham, 
 Oldham, Preston, Renishaw, Stafford, Staleybridge, St. Helens, 
 Stockport, Stockton, Moulders of Scotland, Tipton, Wakefield, 
 
 Warrington, Worcester, York 306 10 GJ 
 
 Machine Engravers, Manchester 14 11 9 
 
 Painters, Plumbers, and Plasterers of Bradford, Bristol, Manchester, 
 Hammersmith, Preston, Marylebone *, and at Edkins and Sons, 
 
 Bristol 60 16 5 
 
 Paper-makers' Association, Maidstone, Kent 60 
 
 Plumbers and Brassfiuishers, London * 10 
 
 Packing-case Manufacturers, Manchester 10 
 
 Potters of Middlesborough, Sunderland, and South Wales 17 18 8 
 
 Ribbon Weavers of Congleton and Derby 69 17 2 
 
 Eope-makers of London and Liverpool 60 15 
 
 Reynolds's Newspaper Office * 208 13 9 
 
 Riggers of Liverpool 15 
 
 Sailwrights of Liverpool 20 
 
 Shipwrights of Blythe, Bristol, Chester, Dundee, Liverpool, Mid- 
 dlesborough, Loaftwitch, Monkwearmouth, Newcastle, North 
 Shields, Northwitch, Preston, Stockton, Sunderland, the Wear... 333 12 7 
 
 Shipjoiners of Liverpool and Sunderland 46 15 7 
 
 Shipsmiths of London and Liverpool 25 
 
 Shoemakers of Barnsley, Bedford, Bristol, Cambridge, Chorley, 
 Cheltenham, Glasgow, Gnassal, Gloucester, Greenwich, Kendal, 
 Liverpool, London,* Hammersmith, Middlesborough, Kensing- 
 ton, Northampton, St. Edmunds, Stone, Stafford 161 12 8 
 
 Skein Silk Dyers of London 37 6 5 
 
 Silk Small ware Weavers of Manchester and Glasgow 17 
 
 Seamen's United Friendly Association, Hartlepool 25 
 
 Smiths and Blacksmiths of Ashton-under-Lyne, Accrington, Barns- 
 ley, Bedford, Bolton, Brailes, Bradford, Bristol, Cambridge, 
 Exeter, Gateshead, Gloucester, Huddersfield, Leeds, Liverpool, 
 Nottingham, Oldham, Preston, Reading, Rochdale, Smethwick, 
 
 Sheffield, and Worcester 88 18 
 
 Steam-Engine Makers of Bolton, Greenwich, Hull, London, Man- 
 chester, Nottingham, Preston, Rochdale, St. Helens, Sheflield, 
 
 and West London Branch 79 10 7i 
 
 Stonemasons of Edinburgh, London*, Preston, and the New Houses 
 
 of Parliament 177 17 Hi 
 
 Tailors of Ayr, Barnsley, Bradford, Bristol, Carlisle, Chatham, 
 Chester, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Gloucester, Grantham, 
 Johnstone near Paisley, Liverpool, London, Hanley, Middles- 
 borough, Middlesex, Newchurch, Newcastle, Preston, Rochdale, 
 Rossendale, Stafford, Staleybridge, Todmorden, York, Tailors' 
 
 Society (Little Windmill Street, London) 157 8 &i 
 
 Tin-plate Workers of Belfast, Bradford, Glasgow, Liverpool, Lon- 
 don*, Preston, and Wolverhampton 116 6 OJ. 
 
 Tobacconists of Manchester and London 26 8 1 
 
 Type-founders of Dublin, Edinburgh, London, and Sheffield 90 8 
 
 Typographers of Sheffield and Liverpool 11 5 
 
 Metropolitan Trades' Committee, Bell Inn, Old Bailey, per Wm. 
 
 Allen, Secretary 1,700 10 3 
 
 Staffordshire Potteries 107 12 12} 
 
 Hanley Potteries 119 12 4} 
 
262 Account of the 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Tanstall Potteries -, 56 17 2i 
 
 Iron Trades of Bedford and Bury 14 14 8 
 
 Newcastle Collieries 15 2 11 
 
 Mass Movement, Central Committee in Manchester and Branclies 157 14 
 
 Bradford Trades and PubUo 3 19 6 
 
 Bristol ffitto 135 10 2i 
 
 Bilstone ditto 2 
 
 Aberdeen ditto 2 16 7 
 
 Bath ditto ,286 
 
 Bedford ditto 4 6 
 
 Birmingham ditto 3 19 7 
 
 Belfast ditto 8 9 
 
 Carlisle ditto 11 7 6 
 
 Chester ditto 39 11 10 
 
 Crewe ditto 2 9 6 
 
 Derby ditto 12 11 7 
 
 Hyde ditto 5 
 
 Holmfrith ditto 2 9 
 
 Leeds ditto 28 15 5 
 
 Liverpool ditto 52 19 3 
 
 Manchester ditto 138 3 llj 
 
 Nottingham ditto 64 8 H 
 
 Northampton ditto 7 10 
 
 Oldham ditto 4 10 6 
 
 Ratcliff ditto 4 
 
 Rotherhara ditto 37 9 6 
 
 Sheffield ditto 123 6 7i 
 
 Stafford ditto 8 8 8 
 
 Staleybridge ditto 32 10 
 
 Miscellaneous public subscriptions of small amount, collected in 
 
 the Preston District 1,202 15 3i 
 
 Ditto, Walton District 44 15 1 
 
 Ditto, Bamber Bridge District 38 3 2J 
 
 Ditto, Garstang District 18 18 3 
 
 Ditto, Moon's Mill District 23 4 6 
 
 Ditto, Farrington District 4 7 2 
 
 Swindon Works, Co-operative Trades at 75 6 
 
 Amalgamated Trades of Wolverhampton 37 5 10 
 
 Ashford in Kent, Eailway Station and Public SO 15 6i 
 
 Leeds Railway Foundry 21 9 10 
 
 Brighton Railway Foundry...., 67 19 IJ 
 
 Midland Railway, Leeds and Bradford 25 19 
 
 Stoke, Birkenhead, and Manchester Railway Stations 15 11 10 
 
 Executive Committee of Labour Parliament 15 
 
 Bricklayers' Arms Society, King Street, London 13 10 
 
 Friendly Musical Society, Horse and Groom, Great Portland Street, 
 
 London 126 3 4 
 
 Protective Union, Lord Nelson, Nelson's Square, London 30 12 11 
 
 Collected at Perry's Coffee-house, Houndsditch, London 5 
 
 Old Trade Society, Cow and Hare, Eastgate Street, Stafford 10 
 
 Industrious Sick and Burial Society, Ashton 10 
 
 Odd-Fellows, Lostick Hill Lodge, No. 413 10 
 
 Ditto of Stockport, Denton and Barnsley, Nos. 1306, 1641, 807 
 
 and 306 , 6 10 
 
 Foresters of Ashton and Hyde 3 8 
 
 Druids of Stockport and Hyde 5 3 
 
 United Brethren of Ashton and Staleybridge 5 
 
 Benefit at the Pavilion Circus, Brighton 11 
 
 Concert at Belfast 7 
 
 Meeting at Brighton 13 6 
 
Strike in the Cotton Trade at Preston. 263 
 
 £i s. d. 
 
 Collected at John Street Institution, City Road 10 
 
 Per Messrs. Holyoake 10 13 9 
 
 Per G. Lewis (Poplar) 5 
 
 Proceeds of a raffle for a Wardrobe made by the workmen at 
 
 Rossell's, of Liverpool '. 16 
 
 Raffle for Iron Bedsteads given by a few Smiths of Liverpool 40 
 
 Raffle for Articles of Dress at Liverpool 26 
 
 W. J., of Preston 26 12 
 
 John Stuart, of Coventry 5 
 
 Compositors on Cambridge Chronicle 2 
 
 Ditto Preston Guardian 6 4 
 
 Ditto „ Chronicle 12 
 
 Balance on hand, as per First Report 14 9 OJ 
 
 Miscellaneous Trade Subscriptions of small amounts, principally 
 from various foundries and workshops in Preston and other 
 
 parts of Lancashire 559 13 94 
 
 This analysis is of the greatest interest, as showing the wide-spread 
 nature of the agitation and the spirit with which the trades' unions 
 throughout the country adopted the Preston battle as their own. 
 
 Total Summary of the Balance- Sheets. 
 
 INCOME 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Weavers 67,751 19 
 
 Spinners 19,839 8 IJ 
 
 Card-Room Hands 9,904 16 
 
 Throstle Spinners 2,476 15 9 
 
 Power-Loom Overlookers 2,079 12 9 
 
 Non-members Mill-Warpers 170 6 5 
 
 Tape Machine Sizers 854 8 44 
 
 Cloth-lookers, &c 192 3 114 
 
 Amalgamated Expenses 1,896 2 44 
 
 4 £105,165 12 9 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PAPEES, 
 
 AEBANGED FOR 
 
 SEi^e STatinnal association for tfje ^tomotion of Social Science, 
 at the bequest of the committee on trades* societies. 
 
 By GODFEEY LUSHINGTON, 
 
 BARRISTEE-AT-LAW. 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 The following remarks are founded only upon tlie information actu- 
 ally received, ahnost always of a limited, and often of a one-sided, 
 character j they apply, except where otherwise specified, only to the 
 subjoined list of trades, of some of which a separate account is 
 also added: — 
 
 Glasgow 
 
 Liverpool. 
 
 .Coopers. 
 Clothlappers. 
 Tailors. 
 Potters. 
 Masons. 
 Joiners. 
 Slaters. 
 Painters. 
 Dyers. 
 Bakers. 
 
 .Joiners. 
 Upholsterers. 
 Painters. 
 Ship Painters 
 
 Liverpool Iron Moulders. 
 
 The Potteries ...Potters. 
 
 Northumberland 
 
 Durham 
 
 Lancashire 
 
 South Yorkshire !■ Miners. 
 
 West Yorkshire 
 
 Cheshire 
 
 Scottish j 
 
 Ironfounders. 
 
 Blackburn Bootmakers. 
 
 Glassmakers. 
 
 The chief object of all unions is to secure to the operative a fair 
 day's wages for a fair day's work. The first question that arises is, is 
 a Union necessary for this purpose ? On this point there seems to 
 be doubt amongst the masters. Of eight, four think combination 
 unnecessary ; three think it necessary ; one believes combination to 
 hasten, but not to produce a fair rise of wages. But only three out 
 of the eight give instances in which a general advance of wages has 
 taken place without the intervention of a society ; the other five pro- 
 fess themselves unable to do so, and the great majority confess that 
 the tendency of trade societies has been to keep up wages, in some 
 cases even unwarrantably. 
 
266 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 On the other hand, there is, as might be expected, absolute uaani- 
 mity amongst the trade societies now under consideration (exceed- 
 ing twenty in immber), that combination is necessary to keep up 
 wages, on the ground that a workman who has no Union fund to 
 fall back upon, must accept reduction of wages or starve. They sup- 
 port their opinion by an appeal to experience. An instance is given 
 amongst the Liverpool upholsterers, where a single operative applied 
 for an increase of wages and was discharged ; all the hands then applied 
 for the same increase and received it. The position of the Scottish 
 miners seems to have risen and fallen with their Union without any 
 other disturbing causes. The least united trades, as those of the Lon- 
 don bakers, the handloomers, &c., are stated to be the worst off; and 
 in one and the same trade non-unionists are represented as receiving 
 less wages than unionists. Instances are accumulated of successful 
 efforts on the part of societies to raise or keep uj) wages, and only very 
 rare instances are produced of a general rise without combination. 
 
 The expedients adopted to secure to the operative a fair day's 
 wages for a fair day's work vary in different ti'ades ; they are generally 
 one or more of the following : — 
 
 L To abolish piecework and sub-contracts. 
 
 2. To establish a uniform standard or minimum, in the shape 
 
 of a fixed price-list or scale of wages. 
 
 3. To prohibit engagements for a term longer than a week, or 
 
 from pay to pay. 
 
 4. To define a normal day's work, and to discountenance or 
 
 absolutely prohibit overtime. 
 
 5. To forbid unionists working with non-unionists. 
 Each of these expedients is enforced, if necessary, by a strike. 
 
 In all trades it would be possible for the workman to be paid by 
 the time ; in most trades, by either time or the piece ; but in some, 
 piecework is impracticable, because of the nature of the work 
 itself; either it is a continuous process hardly divisible into pieces, 
 as the work of a baker or farm-labourer, or it is so varied and com- 
 plicated as to admit of no price-list which is not very elaborate and 
 liable to lead to disputes, as is the case in some factories. In theory, 
 however, where possible, piecework seems the right system ; under 
 it, as under a time-payment system, the better workman is insured 
 constant employment and a high rate of wages as the reward of his 
 superior skill, but under it alone does he get the benefit of his own 
 superior industry and rapidity of execution. Nevertheless, as a 
 &ct, many trades, especially house-trades, such as masons, carpenters, 
 painters, joiners, &c., jealously exclude all piecework. What is 
 the reason of this ? Not, it would appear, any objection to the 
 system on principle, nor any desire to bring down the superior work- 
 man to the level of the inferioi', but that experience shows piece- 
 work is the cause of reduction of wages. The argument is this — 
 piecework leads to slop and inferior work, inferior work to lower 
 pay. Again, it is easier for a master, making a series of petty bar- 
 
General Remarks. 267 
 
 gains under a piecework system, to depart little by little from the 
 market wages, than when he has to engage his hands by the day or 
 the week. These objections ai-e felt strongly in the trades aibove 
 mentioned ; it is not so in others. The following list sliows that it 
 is greatly a matter of custom whether wages are paid by the piece or 
 by time : — 
 
 Paid by the piece — Paid by the time — 
 
 Bottlemakers. Bakers. 
 
 Tailors. Spinners. 
 
 Potters. Painters. 
 
 Pitmen. Masons. 
 
 Paid by both — Clothlappers. 
 
 Coopers. Byworkers in Mines. 
 
 Ironfounders. Ironmongers. 
 
 Eibbon Weavers. Slaters. 
 
 Watchmakers. Upholsterers. 
 
 Trades' Unions, when payment is by the piece, strive to get recog- 
 nised a price-list, or when payment is by time, a scale of wages. 
 In most cases, this is intended by them as a minimum only, to set a 
 bar to a gradual reduction of wages. On the other hand, the master 
 treats it as a maximum ; he fears, if he gives more to one operative, 
 he will be obliged to give more to all. So, between the two — the men 
 refusing to take less, the master to give more — the result is a uniform 
 wage. But it is the result more than the object. By no means all 
 Unions can enforce uniformity — some repudiate it. In many they 
 allow a man to get more if he can; in some, as with the Liverpool iron- 
 mongers and upholsterers, to take less if he chooses, though they 
 offer him aliment if he strike for refusing less. The Coventry watch- 
 makers have not yet established a uniform list; the Glasgow bakers, 
 who are paid by the time, receive weekly wages varying from 18*. 
 to 22s., according to ability; and coopers have three different rates of 
 weekly wages — the operative offering himself for the rate at which he 
 estimates his worth ; the master accepting this estimate, or employing 
 him by the piece. 
 
 It must not, hpwever, be forgotten, that even under a uniform 
 weekly wage system, or under piecework with an absolutely fixed 
 price-list, the better workman retains the greatest advantage due to 
 his industry and skill — namely, the probability of certain employment 
 in slack time. This is most valuable in fluctuating trades; what it 
 may amount to may be estimated by the single instance of the Glas- 
 gow painters, who are described as lying idle every year from six to 
 sixteen weeks; so that, taking the whole year round, the average of 
 their wages, which nominally would be 25s., does not actually reach 
 to 16«. per week. 
 
 Long hours injure health, stupify the moral energy of the workman, 
 and give employment to those who have already too much to do, to 
 the exclusion of those who are anxious to take work. When the operas 
 tive is paid by the day or week, he has no object but to shorten the 
 
268 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 hours which shall be held to constitute a day's work. The hours a 
 few years ago were very long ; the operatives, chiefly through the 
 medium of their unions, have succeeded in establishing a considerable 
 diminution ; but it is impossible to say that in this respect they have 
 gone too far. In none of the trades here considered — if we except 
 miners, who are all paid by the piece, and who in some districts are 
 limited to eight hours per diem — do the operatives work less than 
 fifty-seven hours per week ; many work sixty, as coopers, joiners, 
 painters, &c.; tailors as much as seventy-two. The standard day's 
 work is fixed either by the express rules of the union, or more com- 
 monly by custom, which is equally efficacious. But besides this, 
 trades' unions in general discountenance voluntary overwork, whe- 
 ther this consists in working overtime if paid by the day, or in 
 working too many hours if paid by the hour or by the piece. The 
 reason is, not so much protection to the individual, who may be 
 tempted at his own personal sacrifice to seek that increase in domestic 
 comforts which sensibly follows from even a small addition to his 
 wages, nor consideration for the unemployed, as the desire to prevent 
 a reduction of wages. In estimating the position of an operative, 
 people are apt to look exclusively to the amount of wages earned, dis- 
 regarding the amount of labour bestowed. High wages, as they say, 
 make a great figure in the books ; so, if at the end of the week high 
 wages are paid, the master may be inclined to believe the operative 
 is too well off", or other hands may be tempted to come into a market 
 perhaps already sufficiently supplied with labour. The result is, the 
 master, if he can, lowers the wages, or the wages lower themselves. 
 For these reasons, as well as for the general reasons against long 
 hours, the trade unions are opposed to voluntary overwork, and seek 
 to limit the hours of labour in all cases, whether wages are paid by 
 the time or by the piece. In some trades overtime is prohibited 
 altogether, because, from the peculiar circumstances of the trade, it is 
 especially liable to abuse. Bakers must leave at latest at ten p.m. ; 
 shipjoiners are fined if they work after hours ; tailors may in no case 
 work beyond twelve hours, or take any work to their own homes. 
 In the majority of trades, extra charges to the amount of twenty -five or 
 thirty per cent, are demanded, by way of prohibitory penalties for 
 working beyond the recognised hours ; this is the case e. g. with 
 those watchmakers and coopers who work by the piece, with masons, 
 clothlappers, &c., who work by time. In some few instances over- 
 time is not discountenanced, e. g. with English potters ; also generally 
 in the mines. But it appears on competent authority that in the 
 mines overworking and drinking act and react upon each other. A 
 man overworks, and when he leaves the pit he seeks a support in 
 drink; he gets drunk, and is unable to work for one or two days; when 
 he resumes, he has to work overtime to make up for lost time, and 
 so again as before. A rule limiting the hours of work to eight per 
 diem has been followed by the happiest effects in the South Yorkshire 
 mines, where it has lately been introduced. 
 
 Where the hours of labour are limited, it is not only unnecessary 
 
General Remarks. 269 
 
 but unjust to limit the amount of work to be done in the time ; unjust 
 to the master, if he pays by time, unjust to the man, if he is paid by 
 the piece. Accordingly, only in one of the trades here considered is 
 such a limit found, viz., in some of the coal pits in South Yorkshire, 
 where by custom a man leaves the pit as soon as he has earned 4s. 
 But the better unions all disapprove of this practice, which indeed 
 has no object but to keep the industrious down to the level of the 
 idle. 
 
 Strikes are considered by trades' unions as the last resort. In all 
 trades previous to a strike a formal negotiation with employers is the 
 custom, if not declared imperative by their rules. Individuals who 
 strike must first obtain the consent of their lodge, and a general 
 strike of a whole lodge, in order to receive support from the general 
 fund, requires the authority of the Central Committee, except perhaps 
 in the case of a strike against a reduction of wages. In two trades, 
 viz., tailors and English potters, the rules contain an arbitration 
 clause, which has worked very well. 
 
 Strikes must be very rare where there are no unions, for then 
 there is no reserve fund, and the operative still employed hesitates to 
 contribute to those on strike, because he has no guarantee that his 
 generqfity will be reciprocated. Where there are unions, the num- 
 ber of strikes increases in proportion to the recklessness of the men 
 (as in the mining trade), the selfishness of their leaders, or the 
 cupidity of the masters. It is also great, wherever the principles of 
 the trade remain unsettled, as amongst the Coventry weavers. They 
 are fewest where the unions are best organized, as amongst the 
 Glasgow tailors. As a fact, of the trades now under consideration, 
 strikes are most frequent amongst miners, weavers, and carpenters ; 
 these last have bads even in the last ten years : they are most 
 rare with the potters, tailors, clothlappers, and painters. By 
 far the most common cause of strikes seems to be the refusal of 
 a demand for a rise of wages ; strikes against a reduction of 
 wages or for a diminution of hours being comparatively rare. 
 Amongst strikes for miscellaneous causes may be specified a strike 
 of the weavers against piecework : of the Glasgow potters against 
 a resumption of the " good from oven system : " of tailors 
 against pitshops ; of painters to secure the maintenance of the 
 same prices for a whole year together : and of bootmakers against 
 machinei'y. Lock-outs are very rare, and almost always have 
 for their object the extermination of the Union. They have 
 taken place in the flint glass trade, the iron moulders' trade, and 
 some others. 
 
 The time chosen for strikes almost universally is when trade is 
 brisk. On the whole, strikes seem to be successful, so far as the 
 gaining of the immediate object for which they are undertaken ; 
 the cases where a compromise is effected are however numerous : 
 complete failures are rare. 
 
 The workmen on strike are supported sometimes exclusively, 
 always mainly, by their own Union, though this in most cases means 
 
270 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 not the local Union, but the general association, of which the local 
 Union is but one branch. Donations also are commonly given by 
 other Unions, the larger ones by unions of those following the same 
 trade as those on strike. For instance the Northumberland chain 
 makers gave between £100 and £200 to the Staffordshire chain 
 makers; the Derbyshire weavers, a considerable sum to the Coventry 
 weavers, &c. 
 
 The allowance per diem of course is different in amount in the 
 different ti'ades : the proportion varies from three-eighths up to two- 
 thirds of the fuU wages. 
 
 The eases of actual intimidation, such as would be liable to legal 
 penalties, are very rare indeed, and to be found chiefly in the mining 
 or factory districts: but no doubt the pressure and the fear of social 
 excommunication are very strong and universal. The masters as a 
 body are quite free from the charge of intimidation. 
 
 New men are occasionaUy introduced in consequence of strikes; 
 in trades which require comparatively little skill, generally mere 
 labourers; otherwise, inferior workmen from neighbouring towns. 
 No effect upon wages has been produced by their introduction, because 
 though remaining in the trade they have been few in number, or be- 
 cause at the close of the strike they have been dismissed at the (iemand 
 of the unionists. This has been generally the case. Here and there 
 they have been admitted into the Union and retained. Workmen 
 seldom become employers in consequence of a strike ; a few coopers 
 did so, likewise a few painters and masons. After the Coventry 
 strike some weavers set up looms in their own homes. 
 
 No cases are given of men on strike being permanently driven 
 out of the trade by new comers, or of the shops of any employers 
 being permanently closed. 
 
 In one instance, in the boot-trade, new machinery was introduced 
 in consequence of the strike. 
 
 The strike is in all cases organized and conducted by the com- 
 mittee of the trades' union, sometimes the ordinary committee, some- 
 times one specially appointed for the purpose. In the case of the 
 Coventry weavers' strike, non-unionists joined, and appointed a 
 committee of their own, which co-operated with the Union. 
 
 Where trade societies exist singly, they rarely employ any means 
 of ascertaining whether work is slack or brisk in different parts of the 
 country • it is otherwise, however, where there is a central society 
 with local lodges : these generally issue reports, some fortnightly, 
 as the masons; others monthly, as the coopers and the painters ; others 
 quarterly, as the joiners and the ironmongers. In other cases again 
 there is nothing beyond an irregular correspondence between the 
 local secretaries. 
 
 In by far the great majority of trades, the Unions do not positively 
 interfere with the number of apprentices employed by the masters, 
 or with the work which they shall do, or the wages they shall re- 
 ceive. Several Unions — e.g. the coopers, potters, masons, and joiners 
 — complain that the master takes too many, or does not indenture his 
 
General Bemarks. 271 
 
 apprentices, or tries to make money out of them ratker tliaa to 
 educate them, the resijlt of which conduct is, that the market is over- 
 stocked with unskilled labourers, wages are reduced, and the trade 
 discredited. In one case a master complains that the Union admits 
 as members those who have not been duly apprenticed ; in another, 
 that they keep back apprentices in their education, lest they them- 
 selves should be ousted from the market. Doubtless, aU Trade 
 Unions can help to prevent this evil, as many do now, by rejecting 
 those who have not been indentured; but the remedy lies chiefly in 
 the hands of the masters, and if they do not enforce a strict system 
 of apprenticeship, the Union cannot, for it has to recruit its members 
 from those actually engaged in the trade. 
 
 The treatment of non-unionists depends not so much upon the 
 nature of the trade, or the character of the leaders for the time being 
 of the Union, as upon the strength of the Union. If the Union 
 form a clear majority of the trade, there is generally either an 
 express law or imperative custom prohibiting members altogether 
 from working by the side of non-unionists. This is the case with 
 bakers, some kinds of painters and cotton-spinners, slaters and masons. 
 If the Union is not so strong, as with tailors, upholsterers, and 
 Liverpool painters, the prohibition only extends to working with non- 
 unionists in a shop where the majority of the men are members and 
 five days' leave has been given to the non-unionists to join the Union. 
 On the other hand, if the non-unionists are a majority, or a strong 
 minority, especially in trades where a great number of hands are 
 employed, as at the Potteries, Coventry ribbon factories, or in the 
 mines (except in South Yorkshire), unionists and non-unionists 
 work together. This is also the case with coopers, clothlappers, 
 watchmakers, Glasgow masons and joiners, &c. It need hardly be 
 said, that any rules of the Union on this head, though ostensibly bind- 
 ing upon their members only, are in fact penal against non-unionists 
 and masters, for the master has to dismiss the latter in order to save 
 a strike of the unionists, without whom his work cannot be carried 
 on. The chain makers' Union in the North goes further : it pub- 
 lishes a black list of non-unionists, whereas the black list in other 
 trades consists only of unionists who are defaulters, or work for less 
 than standard wages, or have engaged themselves at a shop under 
 strike. 
 
 The effect of the Trade Unions upon the skill of the workmen, 
 upon their moral character, and upon the public opinion existing 
 amongst them, is of course disputed. The masters are, as a rule, 
 opposed to the Unions; two are indeed found to say that in their 
 trade the Union might do good; one, if all the members were as well 
 behaved as the leaders, the other, if the Union was properly con- 
 ducted; a third thinks the Union has produced no effect on the 
 character of the men, or on trade. Most, however, are agreed that 
 Trade Unions have destroyed the proper relation-^one of affectionate 
 dependence — of the operative towards his master, have established 
 instead a tyranny by the interested leaders of the Society — a tyranny 
 
272 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 tliat affects at once the independent workman and the capitalist, — 
 and have made the men dictatorial and presuming upon trade ques- 
 tions on which they are ignorant ; also, that skill is discouraged by 
 the uniform prices imposed upon the employer. One employer goes 
 so far as to say that the Union has made the men careless and dis- 
 honest workmen to their employers. The Secretaries of the Unions 
 give a very different representation ; they are unanimous as to the 
 result, tbough each alleges various reasons. As to the effect of 
 union upon the skill of the workman, it appears that many Unions 
 (as upholsterers, ironmongers, and painters) insist on competence as 
 a condition of admission to the Society; other Unions strive to see 
 that the laws as to apprenticeship are strictly observed; others again 
 oppose the manufacture of bad goods, e.g. the chain makers, potters, 
 and watchmakers ; many prohibit piecework or sub-contracts, with a 
 view to oust slop-work from the market. 
 
 In proof that the moral character of the workman is improved by 
 the Union, it is advanced that the objects proposed by the Society, 
 such as short hours, half-holidays, higher wages, abolition of truck, 
 saving money when trade is brisk to avoid a reduction when trade is 
 low, the feeling that each member has a common interest with all 
 his fellow-workmen in the trade, and emancipation from absolute 
 dependence on the master; all these must help to raise the workman 
 as a man. No Society assists members who have been thrown out of 
 work by their own misconduct, or appoints for its officers those who 
 have offended against the laws of the land. One even suspends 
 members for this reason. The carpenters' Union endeavours to pro- 
 secute all thieves in the trade. The coopers have abolished fines 
 and footings, which apprentices or strangers taking work had to pay 
 in drink; and both they and the ironmongers appeal to the elevation 
 of the trade as a proof of the well working of the Union. No 
 Scottish Union meets in a tavern. 
 
 Lastly, the public opinion amongst the men is stated to be raised 
 by the Unions on the following grounds : — full information upon 
 trade affairs is procured and disseminated; matters are openly dis- 
 cussed; both sides are heard; each member has to decide upon ques- 
 tions, such as strike or no strike, which vitally affect his interests, 
 the minority have to acquiesce and do acquiesce in the decision of 
 the majority, however great may be the personal sacrifice entailed by 
 a strike; unions discountenance any acts of violence towards non- 
 conformists, and uphold the system of arbitration in case of difference 
 with their employers. 
 
 The improvements suggested by the secretaries to Trades' Unions 
 are as follows : — Eemove meetings from public-houses, as in Scot- 
 land; let the Society be registered ; let a digest of the rules of all 
 Unions be made with a view to establish a pattern form, applicable 
 so far as is possible to all trades ; let each trade be organized into a 
 Central Society with local branches ; let all Trades' Societies be 
 organized together into one; let Courts of Conciliation be established. 
 
 The most various remedies for evils arising from Trade Societies 
 
Glasgow Trades. 273 
 
 are suggested by employers for labour, — one says, educate the work- 
 men more; another, don't educate them so much ; one says, let the 
 masters recognise the right of the Union to meet them on equal 
 terms, and let the two consult together as to wages; another pro- 
 poses to declare all combinations, whether of masters or men, illegal; 
 one declares Courts of Conciliation to be the necessity of the age; 
 another, a mere chimera. 
 
 It is clear from the inspection of the Rules of the various Socie- 
 ties, from the history of the strikes, and even from the mere number 
 of them, that in many respects Trades' Unions are in an unsatisfactory 
 condition. It cannot be denied that strikes are sometimes undertaken 
 when there is nothing to justify a rise in wages, or for an improper 
 purpose as to abolish machinery, or that Unions are often misled by 
 interested adventurers, and propagate themselves by intimidation, 
 and are always a serious inconvenience to masters. But the real 
 question is, whether the remedy lies in the extinction of Trades' 
 Unions or their re-organization. Now, extinction seems impossible; 
 in nearly every trade the operatives believe in their utility; they 
 have not been suppressed by laws which declared them illegal, or 
 by masters or combinations of masters who have for this purpose 
 made many most determined lock-outs. Nor could this extinction be 
 just. There is, as has been shown, an almost universal concession 
 that Societies have kept up wages, and that there are few general 
 rises of wages without the interference of a Society. Several mas- 
 ters are compelled to admit that without combination the operative 
 can hardly obtain a fair wage. The other alternative, therefore, forces 
 itself upon the conviction, that Trade Societies should be retained, 
 but re-organized, so as to secure justice to masters and operatives 
 generally, as well as to unionists themselves. 
 
 GLASGOW TRADES. 
 
 Foe much of the information contained in the following abstract,. 
 the Social Science Association is indebted to the courtesy and kind 
 assistance of the Council of United Trades of Glasgow, who issued 
 the following Circulars : — 
 
 To the Committees of the various Trade Societies in Glasgow and 
 the West of Scotland. 
 " G-ENTLEMEN, — The following resolution, which was unanimously 
 adopted by the Council of United Trades, is earnestly recommended 
 by us to your serious consideration ; and we hope that you will 
 assist us in carrying it into effect, by forwarding to this Council 
 copies of your rules, and all information you are at present in pos- 
 session of in regard to this question. As the ' National Association' 
 for the Promotion of Social Science ' is expected to sit in Glasgow 
 next year, it is to be hoped that by that time we will be able to 
 o-ive a full and explicit statement of the constitution and objects of 
 ' Trades' Unions,' which are indispensable to the well-being of the 
 working classes : — 
 
274 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 " Eesolvt'd, — That we, tlie representatives of Trades' Unions in 
 Glaso-ow auil the West of Scotland, in Council assembled, hail with 
 deliffht the proposal of an impartial inquiry into the nature and ten- 
 dency of Trades' Unions, as proposed by the National Association 
 for the Promotion of Social Science, and resolve to recommend to 
 our constituencies to co-operate with the gentlemen who are engaged 
 in that inquiry, by giving them information on this most important 
 subject. And be it therefore ordained, that reports from the various 
 societies be given into this Council, with all convenient speed, of 
 their willingness to co-operate in, or aversion to, the inquiry, that 
 the same may be forwarded to the proper parties. 
 
 " The Circulars of the Association for the Promotion of Social 
 Science, containing the questions of the inquiry, may be had from 
 the Council of United Trades. All information in the meantime is 
 earnestly requested and will be thankfully recei'S'ed by us. 
 " Yours respectfully, 
 
 " Mathew Lavs'eence, Secretary. 
 
 " Bell's Temperance Hotel, 68, Teongate, Glasgow, 
 "2lst Sept., 1859." 
 
 COOPERS. 
 
 [Materials : — Rules of National Association of Coopers ; Fifth Annual Report of 
 ditto, August, 1858-1859 ; Rules of Glasgow Coopers' Friendly Protecting Society; 
 Answers on Behalf of ditto to Questions concerning Trades' IJmons and Strikes.] 
 The National Association of Coopers is a central association, 
 having local branches in many important towns in the United King- 
 dom, including Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, New- 
 castle, &c. Its professed object is to render assistance to local 
 societies "unjustly aggressed" by their employers, and to advance the 
 general interests of the trade. Its funds are directed to be used to 
 resist aggression, and for the purpose of raising prices, when the 
 sanction of a majority of the societies has been previously obtained 
 through their officers. The funds are raised by a contribution of 
 \d. per week per head, to be increased, if necessary, to 6d.; each 
 local society to collect from its own members, and to hold the' same 
 when collected, but to account for it, and transfer it on demand. 
 Men on strike (except the strike be a merely local one, and of 
 shorter duration than six days) to receive \0s. per week from the 
 general fund. Rule 15 prescribes that in case of a strike arising 
 with any society connected with the Association, other towns which 
 may be busy are to take as many men as they conveniently can to 
 relieve the town on strike. 
 
 Any society in want of men at any time is bound to apply in the 
 first instance to the various societies amalgamated in the National 
 Association. 
 
 Members are bound under penalties to seek for work through the 
 authorized channel of the officers of their own society. 
 
 In the year August, 1858, August, 1859, the expenses of the Execu- 
 tive Committee of the National Association amounted to nearly £100. 
 
Glasgow Trades — Coopers. 275 
 
 THE GLASGOW COOPEES. 
 
 Previous to the year 1 833, the wages of coopers in Glasgow were very 
 low — lower than in any town in Great Britain. In that year a Union 
 was formed, and, in 1836, a strike made for an advance, and after along 
 struggle an advance of five per cent, was gained; in 1837, another 
 strike was made for a further rise, but with no success. In 1844, the 
 masters, after presenting several ineffectual petitions of their own to 
 Government for a reduction of the duty on staves, induced the opera- 
 tives to join. A reduction of the duty then took place, but did not 
 result, as had been anticipated, in any rise of wages. In 1851, the 
 present Society was established, and various reforms were introduced. 
 Fines and footings, which hitherto had been exacted from strangers 
 procuring work, or from apprentices entering the trade and passing 
 from one stage of it to another, and which had led to habits of drink- 
 ing, were abolished. In their stead were introduced annual soirees, 
 pleasure excursions, vocal and instrumental concerts, &c., open to all 
 coopers, whether members or not. A half-holiday was established 
 on Saturday; u, funeral and sick fund was raised in connexion with 
 the Society, and generally the whole trade was organized, and has 
 since been steadily improving. 
 
 There has only been one strike in the last ten years ; that was for 
 an advance of wages; the men were receiving about 17s. to 20*. per 
 week, and they asked for \0d. more per hour. The strike lasted 
 fifteen weeks, and eventually ceased, the men agreeing to take 4.d. 
 extra per hour, or ten per cent, extra if they worked by the piece. 
 Estimating the number of men on strike to be 160, the weekly allow- 
 ance to be 9s. per week (as a fact, it was 10s. for each married man, 
 and 8s. for each single man for thirteen weeks, and after that 12s. 
 and 10s. respectively), and wages lost at the time to have been about 
 20s., this strike caused a loss of £1,320. The expense was defrayed 
 partly by local funds, but mainly by the National Association of Coopers, 
 which advanced no less a sum than £800. The present rate of wages 
 amounts to about 20s. to 22s. per week. Coopers are paid generally 
 by the hour; there are three rates of wages, and the operative asks 
 for that rate to which he deems himself entitled ; if the master does 
 not agree with the operative's estimate of himself, he engages him 
 by the piece. There is no rule as to the number of hours' work; 
 but, by custom, this is fixed at sixty hours in the week, i.e., ten on 
 week days, eight on Saturday, and the remaining two to be made up 
 by extra work on week days. By Rule 12 no member is allowed to 
 entei' into any engagement either directly or indirectly for any given 
 time longer than from pay to pay. 
 
 There are 140 members; the entrance fee is Is. %d., and the fort- 
 nightly subscription is 5d., and Ad. extra per fortnight to those 
 members who desire to be members of the sick fund. The chief 
 benefit to be derived from the Society is aliment of 10s. per week to 
 any member who is compelled to leave his employment in consequence 
 of reduction being threatened, or for his connexion with the Society; 
 but the fact must be clearly proved before the aliment is granted, 
 
 X 2 
 
276 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 and misconduct towards the employer works a forfeiture of all right 
 to aliment. Also, there are funeral allowances varying from £2 
 to £3. 
 
 The ordinary term for apprenticeship is six years, but it is not 
 imperative that lads should be formally indentured. The trade 
 society does not attempt to dictate to the master the number of ap- 
 prentices he shall have, but as a fact there are too many, and they 
 are insufficiently educated. It appears that it is the small establish- 
 ments that are the nurseries of the apprentices. In Glasgow there 
 were a short time ago, altogether, in and out of the Society, about 
 500 coopers; of these 132 were apprentices. 
 
 Systematic tramping is discouraged, but some assistance is nevei"- 
 theless given to members on the move. 
 
 GLASGOW CLOTH LAPPEES. 
 
 [Materials : — Answers by the Secretary to the questions concerning Trade 
 Unions and also Strikes ; Rules of Glasgow Cloth Lappers' Friendly Protective 
 Society; a few miscellaneous documents.] 
 
 The object of the Society is stated to be legally to protect the 
 interests of the employer and employed, and especially to assist- its 
 members who are thrown out of emjsloyment, and to protect them 
 from all encroachment on their hours of labour. 
 
 Rule 2. No one to become a member without producing evidence 
 of his qualification. — Entrance 5s. 3d., weekly contributions 3d. 
 
 Rule 5. Aliment to those thrown out of employment (not on 
 account of their OAvn misconduct) to be 7s. per week for the first 
 eight weeks, 5s. for the next eight weeks, and 3s. for eight follow- 
 ing weeks. 
 
 Rule 7 . Any member refusing to work after the regular hours of 
 the trade, and leaving his employment in consequence, shall receive 
 two-thirds of his wages per week for twelve weeks, after that time 
 be put on the ordinary aliment sum. 
 
 The Society is a gradually increasing body, it numbers two hun- 
 dred members : and is connected with no other society than the 
 Trades' Council at Glasgow. 
 
 Wages are paid by the day. 
 
 The last strike was in 1851, and it lasted for six weeks : the 
 wages were then from 14s. to 16s., and the hours, sixty-four per 
 week. The men struck for a diminution of the hours to fifty-eight, 
 and eventually obtained a diminution to sixty-two. 
 
 In 1857, apparently on the application of the operatives, an in- 
 crease was made to their wages of 2s. weekly, so that the rate was 
 from 16*. to 18*. In 1858, the operatives made another application 
 for the reduction of the hours of labour from sixty -two to fifty-seven, 
 which would make the working hours from 6 a.m. to 6 P.M. The 
 masters consented to reduce them to sixty hours, but refused an 
 further concession, and the operatives did not press it. 
 
 In April, 1859, a Committee of the Calender Masters, without 
 consulting the operatives, issued a code of rules entitled " General 
 
Glasgow Trades — Tailors. 
 
 277 
 
 Rules to be observed for the mutual benefit of tlie Trade of Calen- 
 derers and Clothlappers," and based upon rules, wbicb, in 1843, 
 had been agreed to by a committee of masters and workmen. 
 The operatives felt bound to make a protest against rules m ade to 
 bind them, and made without their assent ; especially as they were 
 determined not, permanently at least, to submit to more than fifty- 
 seven hours of labour per week, and were opposed to the regulations 
 contained in the rules as to over time. No copy of these regula- 
 tions has been supplied. Appended is a balance-sheet for one year. 
 
 In hand 68 11 11 
 
 For pence money & articles 144 2 1 
 
 Fines 2 9 6 
 
 Interest from Bank 1 19 2 
 
 £217 2 8 
 
 £ 
 
 ToD. B. Finlay 6 
 
 T. J. Robertson 1 
 
 To A. MacGregor 1 
 
 Salary to office bearers 4 
 
 Funeral money 9 
 
 New chest and 3 keys 19 
 
 New minute book 3 
 
 Printing 300 copies of An- 
 
 nualEeport 8 
 
 Do. 200 pass books 1 
 
 Do. 500 copies of new rules 1 
 
 500 tin tickets for meeting 
 
 Glass globe 
 
 500 notices for members in 
 
 arrears 
 
 Printing 700 bills 1 
 
 Half of meeting with Levy 
 
 Committee 
 
 Printing 250 circulars 
 
 "Writing paper, &c 
 
 8 General Meetings 2 
 
 64 Committee Meetings 
 Expenses to parties looking 
 
 after money in banks 
 
 when closed 6 
 
 Posting and delivering bills 3 
 
 2 Summonses 6 2 
 
 Auditor 3 10 
 
 To bank trustees when name 
 
 changed 7 
 
 For Federal Union 10 
 
 liment 155 1 2 
 
 Total 194 11 
 
 Balance in hand 23 1 9 
 
 £217 2 8 
 
 GLASGOW TAILOES. 
 
 [Materials: — ^Answers to the questions concerning Trade Unions by the Secretary 
 of the Union : a full copy of the minutes of the Union for the year (October) 1856- 
 1857; and a Balance-sheet.] 
 
 The Glasgow Operative Tailors' Society, instituted December 13, 
 1849, is confined to Glasgow tailors, and connected with no other 
 association except the Trades' Council at Glasgow. Its object, as 
 defined in the preamble to its rules, is " to efiect a general union of 
 
278 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 the operative tailors of Glasgow, and a proper uaderstanding befr(veen 
 employers and employed ; also to assert principles in case of any 
 attempt to reduce wages ; to assist each otlier, and to advance the 
 interests of the trade at large." Open to members of this Society 
 is- also " The Glasgow Operative Tailors' Sick, Funeral, and Trade 
 Protection Society," having three separate funds for three separate 
 objects, the protection fund being available in case of any dispute 
 arising between employer and employed in matters relating to the 
 trade. 
 
 The number in the Trade Union is 876 ; the entrance fee 2s. 6d., 
 the weekly contribution \d. ; the strike aliment 12*. per week for four 
 weeks, except in case of a general strike. For the benefit club the en- 
 trance is 2s. 6d. ; the weekly contribution 3d. The " sick-aliment" 
 from 4s. to 8*. per week ; the funeral payment from £2 to £3. It 
 does not appear very clearly how the protection fund is disposed of; 
 or how its object differs fi-om that of the Trade Union. 
 
 The accounts submitted to us are as follows : — 
 
 Cr Dr. 
 
 £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 Fiom formation to January 1857... 760 5J — 347 5 10 
 
 January 1857 to „ 1858 ... 240 4 6 — 331 9 9i 
 
 1858 to „ 1859 ... 136 13 2 — 119 5 3J 
 
 1859 to „ 1860 ... 212 8 lOJ — 203 4 3i 
 
 1,001 5 2i 
 Balance 348 2 94 
 
 1,349 8 — 1,349 8 
 
 Benefit Society. 
 
 Cr. Dr. 
 
 £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 May 1858 to May 1859 ... 125 10 9 — 125 10 9 
 
 May 1859 to Januai-y, 1860 ... 159 19 4 — 139 16 8 
 
 January 1860 to April 7 1860 ... 86 13 3 — 102 14 
 
 368 1 5 
 Balance 4 10 
 
 372 3 4 — 372 3 4 
 
 Gifts to other Societies on Strike. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Belfast Tailors 20 
 
 Glasgow Shoemakers 30 
 
 Rothsay Tailors 10 
 
 London Look-out 30 
 
 Total £90 
 
 There is no organized association of masters in the trade. 
 
 The system is one of piecework with a uniform scale of prices 
 attached; the master to see that the workmanship is up to par, 
 the average amount of wages earned, 24«. per week. This scale is 
 settled in the following manner. A committee is appointed at a' 
 
Glasgow Trades — Tailors. 279 
 
 general meeting of the operatives' Society to draw up a. scale of 
 prices ; this scale is then submitted to a full special meeting. If it 
 gives satisfaction, the employers are requested to depute a committee 
 of equal numbers to meet the operatives' committee ; any alteration 
 that may meet vsrith their joint approval to be referred again to the 
 whole body of the operatives. Should that body approve, the list 
 of prices is then signed by the two chairmen of the respective com- 
 mittees, and becomes the recognised law of the trade. 
 
 The hours of work are by the 19th rule of the Society restricted 
 to twelve hours exclusive of "diets," or from six a.m. to seven p.m. 
 including them ; but there is no restriction put upon the amount of 
 work to be done in these twelve hours. All work to be done on 
 the shop premises, under penalty of fines, or if necessary, of erasure 
 from the books. 
 
 This trade is happily free from general strikes. This arises partly 
 from the fact that, owing to the uniform demand and supply of the 
 market, prices, fluctuate but little, the last rise having been in 1855 
 from 2\s. to 24*. per week : partly from, the admirable provision for 
 settlement of disputes made by rules 11 and 21. These are as 
 follows. " This Society being established upon principles of strict 
 justice, having for its object the protection and furtherance of the 
 interests of both employers and employed, it is desirable that all dis- 
 putes which may arise between them should be submitted to arbitra- 
 tion as the most speedy and equitable way of arriving at a conclusion, 
 and it shall be the constant aim of the Society to see that this desire 
 be as far as practicable carried out. ... In the event of any dispute 
 arising, the men shall first reason the matter with the employer, and 
 if unsuccessful, they shall immediately thereafter inform the Com- 
 mittee of the same, who will use their best endeavours to bring about 
 an amicable adjustment of the case. . . . The arbiters shall consist 
 of an equal number of employers and employed, whose decision shall 
 be final, the disputants first subscribing minute of sulmiission, bind- 
 ing themselves to abide by the same, or an agreement binding them 
 to enter into a regular submission, when required, containing the 
 usual clauses." Not until these endeavours have been unsuccessful, 
 and unless the Committee think there is a justifiable cause to strike, 
 does a strike take place." 
 
 These provisions are often called into operation. An individual 
 employer seeks to reduce the recognised price, or to let out work to 
 "sweaters," or otherwise to wrong his workmen; a deputation from 
 the Society is at once sent to expostulate; this generally succeeds; it 
 did in sixteen cases and more in the year October, 1856 and 1857, 
 for in cases of this kind the employer knowing he has been trying 
 to undersell his neighbours by getting his work more cheaply done, 
 rarely is ready to meet his equals at the arbitration board. If there- 
 fore he does not yield, a strike against him follows; of these however 
 there were not above four or five instances in the above mentioned 
 year. In one case, after the strike had begun, the employer imported 
 fresh hands from a distance, but at the end of three weeks he dis- 
 
280 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 missed them, and accepted the terms of the Society : a pretty clear 
 231'oof that the best workmen belonged to it. 
 
 But the chief grievance in the year 1856-1857 was the pit shops, 
 or underground working places. The first step towards their 
 abolition was an attempt of the Society to induce the Sanitary 
 Committee for the City to move : this failing, to offer an aliment 
 of 125., i.e., 4«. per week beyond the usual allowances only to such 
 men as might be willing to strike against jiit shops, and even- 
 tually to declare a strike imperative. This strike lasted, off and 
 on, for two years, with more or less success. Several masters sub- 
 mitted their shops to the examination of the Committee, or improved 
 them ; altogether, good rooms were provided for 260 men who had 
 worked before in pits ; and eventually a memorial, got up by the 
 Trade Union and signed by 7,570 citizens, was presented to the 
 Town Council; and, owing to this, a clause against pit shops Avas 
 inserted in the Sanitary Act for Grlasgow. 
 
 The Trade Union has no rules affecting apprentices : to tramp 
 tailors presenting a card 6c?. is given and a night's lodging, and on 
 Saturday one shilling and two nights' lodging. 
 
 Two rules may here be noticed; Rule 18, that operatives going 
 into a shop to work in connexion with this Society shall be requested 
 to join the Society Jive days after their entrance into the said shop. 
 On their refusal to do so, notice shall be given to the Committee, who 
 shall then take such legal steps as may be necessary under the cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 Rule 25. During the time of a strike, if any man go into a shop 
 which is on strike, or in any way act dishonourably to the interest 
 of the Society, his name shall be printed and circulated over town 
 and country as widely as possible, unless he settle with the Com- 
 mittee, &c. 
 
 Altogether, this Union seems to be managed in an extremely sen- 
 sible and conciliatory manner, and justly to administer the affairs of 
 the trade. 
 
 THE POTTERS. 
 
 [Materials : — Answers by Operatives, viz. a Glasgow potter and an English 
 potter, to the questions concerning Trade Unions, and by the Glasgow potter 
 to the questions concerning Strikes ; and a few miscellaneous documents ; Rules 
 of the Glasgow potters, Flat Branch Defence Association.] 
 
 The Potters form a very considerable trade, with various distinct 
 branches, e.g. throwers, turners, hollow-ware pressers, flat pressers, 
 oven-men, gilders, printers, packers, warehousemen, and others. In 
 Scotland, altogether they number 3,500; in England, in the Potteries 
 alone, 2000; and there are considerable works in Yorkshire also. 
 The organization of the potters in the Potteries, and of the potters 
 in Scotland, is independent, but framed on the same principle. Each 
 branch has a Union of its own, with a separate finance, with lodges 
 at the different towns, and with one town for its head-quarters. For 
 instance, the hollow- ware pressers have lodges at Tunstall, Burslem, 
 Hanley, Fenton, and Langton, and they meet periodically at Hanley. 
 
Miscellaneous Papers. 281 
 
 All the unions again have one common executive in Scotland ; it is 
 called the central board, and meets at Glasgow. In the Potteries 
 there is a weekly journal, price one halfpenny, with a circulation of 
 2000, written by operatives working at the bench, and to judge by 
 six numbers of the current year, the tone and purport of it is very 
 good ; questions are fairly argued on both sides, and such points, as, 
 the necessity for the education of the children even at the cost of 
 the operatives, and the duty of workmen to show the same justice 
 towards their fellow-workmen as they demand from their employer, 
 are fully insisted upon. The operatives have no official source of 
 information concerning their own trade ; they trust to " the penny 
 stamp," i.e. casual chances to bring them news. In the Potteries the 
 masters also are combined, to the number of about thirty, into a 
 " Chamber of Commerce," but they do not seem to be a very united 
 body; some are ever found ready to undersell their neighbours. 
 
 At no Union in the Potteries is an entrance fee charged, except in 
 that of the oven men, and there it is 1«. ; in Scotland, for flat-branch 
 potters, the entrance fee is Is., and the weekly contribution 3d., and 
 out of the fund thereby raised an allowance of 7s. is made to each 
 member thrown out of employment, with 2s. extra for his wife, and 
 Is. extra for each of his children. This Union does not make any 
 provision expressly with a view to a strike; but by Rule 6, it is pre- 
 scribed that members having grievances with their employers, and 
 being desirous of leaving their employment, shall give intimation to 
 the president, who shall call a meeting of the committee, and unless 
 the committee authorize the member to leave his situation, he shall 
 not be entitled to receive aliment. And for more than four to leave 
 their situation for the same reason, the authority of a general meeting 
 is requisite. 
 
 In " the Potteries " there are no tramps, or at all events, there is no 
 provision for them; and in the Scotch Society, it is held the duty of 
 the members to discountenance collections for regular tramps. 
 
 In pottery there is no machinery invented, or likely to be invented, 
 to supersede the potter, though some may be discovered to facilitate 
 his work. 
 
 If we except a " set wage " of 24*. per week, which is occa- 
 sionally found in Scotland, but never taken by a firstrate hand, the 
 system is universally one of piecework. In the Potteries the men 
 are hired at Martinmas for a year, with a notice of one month in ease 
 of either party desiring to be free; and, at the same time, there is 
 fixed for the ensuing year a scale of piecework prices. These prices 
 are the minimum; a workman may, if he can, get higher, but he will 
 be supported by his Union if he refuse to take less. These prices 
 would make wages about 5s. per diem, i.e. 30s. per week, if the trade 
 is brisk ; but the potters' trade seems to be liable to great fluctuation, 
 and hands are often left idle for two or three days in the week, so 
 much so that one operative calculates the average wages actually 
 earned during the last seven years to be not so high as 18s., if more 
 than 16s. per week. 
 
282 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 The hours of work are fixed by custom, but by custom only, to ten 
 per diem. Nowhere in the trade is any limit set upon the amount of 
 work to be done during these ten hours, but in " the Potteries," 
 thougli not in Scotland, overtime is discountenanced by the Trades' 
 Union. The rate of wages has varied very little during the last few 
 years. 
 
 Strikes, happily, do not seem to be common. In Scotland, the last 
 strike was in 1859, from September 21st to December 8th (against 
 the resumption of the good-from-oven system, about which see infra) ; 
 but it was not very important, and was conducted from the first against 
 the consent of a large minority of leading members, and it terminated 
 in favour of the masters. In " the Potteries," the last general strike 
 was in 1836, which is still remembered with dread. One signal 
 cause of the absence of strikes in the Potteries is, that the wi'itten 
 yearly agreement contains a clause that, "If any dispute arise be- 
 tween the parties as to the prices or wages to be paid by virtue of 
 such agreement, the dispute shall be referred to an arbitration 
 board of six persons, to consist of three manufacturers chosen by the 
 masters, and three working potters elected by the working men." 
 This arbitration clause has been much tried, and has worked most 
 successfully in ninety out of one hundred cases. One instance may 
 be given : — In December, 1859, a complete scale of prices to be given 
 for all goods made by the hollow-ware pressors of three great firms 
 was settled by arbitration. 
 
 The evils in the trade, which seem most to call for remedy, are as 
 follows: — 
 
 1. The use of ill- ventilated and generally unwholesome places of 
 labour. The potter's life is a short one. 
 
 2. The employment of children of tender years ; any alteration 
 however would be difiicult, because any loss incurred under it would 
 fall upon the operative potters, who would see removed to school the 
 boys who now work under them and are very remunerative. 
 
 3. The good-from-oven system. Under this the bowl makers are 
 not paid for their work until the bowls are returned from the kiln,- 
 and then only if returned perfect. The disadvantages to the opera- 
 tive are obvious ; he has to wait for his wages sometimes a week or 
 more, until it is the convenience of his master to put the bowls into 
 the kiln, and meantime his work may be lost, or mislaid, or injured, 
 in the storeroom; then at length, when it 'comes from the kiln, and 
 he is about to be paid, he finds himself mulcted for any imperfection 
 whether of his own making or not; the material supplied by the 
 master may have been bad, or the fireman may have injured it in the 
 kiln, yet the maker must pay. This system gives great dissatisfac- 
 tion; the resumption of it was the cause of the strike in Scotland; 
 indeed, it is obviously unjust. In 1856 the judge of a county court 
 in StalFordshire decreed in favour of a workman suing for his wages 
 thus mulcted, because the master had refused to set aside the rejected 
 ware of the workman for re-examination either by arbitration or the 
 legal tribunal. 
 
Glasgow Trades — Potters. 283 
 
 The other system is the "good-from-hand," nnder which the goods 
 are counted when made, and wages, either in full or in part, paid in 
 advance, with liability to deduction for any imperfect workmanship 
 afteiTvards discovered in the kiln. 
 
 4. The toleration of inferior work, both by the public who want 
 cheap goods, and by masters trying to undersell one another. One 
 object of the Glasgow Potters' Flat Branch Defence Association is 
 expressed to be " to discountenance whatever leads to our moral 
 degradation, or retards the perfection of trade as an art." An opera- 
 tive, complaining of this, quotes as follows from Wedgwood : — " A 
 competition for cheapness, and not for excellence of workmanship, is 
 the most frequent and certain cause of the rapid decay and entire, 
 destruction of arts and manufactures. The desire of saving much in 
 a little time, without respect to the taste or quality of the goods, leads 
 manufacturers and merchants to ruin the reputation of the articles 
 which they make and deal in; and whilst those who buy prefer, for 
 the sake of fallacious saving, mediocrity to excellence, it will be im- 
 possible for them to improve or keep up the quality of their works." 
 
 One form in which this evil shows itself is the relaxation of the 
 rules concerning apprentices. Under the old system boys were 
 regularly indentured to be apprentices for seven years ; they 
 received for payment, irrespective of the work they actually pro- 
 duced (though diligence was enforced), wages at the rate of 2*. a 
 week the first year, rising Is.- every yean At the end of the seven 
 years the apprentice expected that his master would retain him as, 
 journeyman, for the next two or three years. This rule however 
 was not enforced, the masters alleged as a reason that the indenture 
 stamp, 21s., was too high ; Government on application reduced it to 
 2s. 6d., but yet no change followed; and it is only a short time ago 
 that in, one town, containing twenty pottery manufactories, not one 
 master took any pains to carry the rules out- The custom is now 
 to have no indenture; to hire boys, just like journeymen, at Martin- 
 mas, for the year ; they begin with weekly wages, and then are 
 advanced to piecework, but at lower prices than journeymen. 
 Under this loose system both masters and apprentices lose sight of 
 their mutual obligations. The apprentice often suddenly leaves at 
 the end of his second or third year, just at the time when he is 
 beginning to be useful to his master. And on the other hand, at the 
 end of the seven years, the master often dismisses without scruple 
 the apprentice, if he has no particular need for him; and under these 
 circumstances, the apprentice will sometimes consent to work two 
 years more at apprentice wages. But the general effect is the 
 worst. It overstocks the market with unskilled, unattached work- 
 men, wages are lowered, and the quality of the goods deteriorates. 
 
 The same reason which leads the operatives to protest against a 
 superfluity of ill-trained apprentices, causes them also to discounte- 
 nance the system of tramps, which is suited only for trades requiring 
 comparatively little skill. 
 
284 
 
 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 GLASGOW MASONS. 
 
 [Materials : — Answers to questions for Employers of Labour by a special Com- 
 mittee appointed for the pm-pose by the Masters ; to questions upon Strikes by 
 the same Committee, and by the Secretary to the Operative Society ; and to ques- 
 tions upon Trade Unions by the Secretary to the Operative Society ; Rules of the 
 Priendly Society of Operative Stone Masons, passed in 1856; a few miscellaneous 
 papers.] 
 
 The Glasgow masous are apparently independent of the English 
 masons, though governed by a similar code of laws, and there is no 
 interchange of privileges between the two Societies. They are in- 
 corporated into a society, the objects of which are " materially to 
 support each other while in search of employment, and also in case 
 of sickness or accident, and the interment of deceased members ; 
 as also to regulate the price and lessen the hours of labour ; to 
 render support to trades in union, for the purpose of resisting any in- 
 fringement that may be offered against their rights and privileges." 
 Accordingly there is a sick fund and also an accident fund open to mem- 
 bers of the trade society, raised by fixed contributions of those who are 
 desirous to take advantage of the privileges connected with them. 
 
 There are thirty-six branches of the Society, and the aggregate 
 number of members is about 3,500, but each branch or lodge may make 
 bye-laws of its own, or strike at its own cost, but is bound to transmit 
 all funds not required for its local management to a central cormnittee, 
 which is appointed to serve for six months, and has for its object "to 
 form a centre of action, that the various branches may the more 
 readily communicate with each other to keep every branch strictly 
 within the pale of the Society's laws, and to check any extravagant 
 use of the funds, which are to be appropriated to no other purpose 
 than the payment of legal strikes, and other expenses provided for in 
 the rules." 
 
 The rule for admission is that " the candidate be recommended by 
 a payable member of the Society, who shall be responsible for his 
 being of the trade, a majority of those present to decide whether he 
 be admitted. jSTo one to be admitted without strict inquiry as to 
 fitness." Any member after election to be suspended for three 
 months, if guilty of a breach of the laws of the land. 
 
 The entrance fee is 5s., weekly contribution, i\d. 
 
 No financial statement has been furnished to us, except the follow- 
 ing table of expenditure by way of benefit from 1854-1859. 
 
 Funeral allowance 
 
 Sick ditto 
 
 Accident and sick levies 
 
 Strike pay 
 
 Tramp relief 
 
 Loans to Union Trades 
 
 London lock-outs 
 
 Wallace's Monument 
 
 £1,509 
 
 
 
 35 
 
 
 
 1,797 
 
 
 
 792 
 
 
 
 169 
 
 
 
 850 
 
 
 
 336 14 
 
 
 
 67 16 
 
 
 
 £5,556 10 
 
 
 
Glasgow Trades — Masons. 285 
 
 There is no combination of masters in the trade. 
 
 The wages are paid fortnightly : in 1857 they were as high as 
 27*. per week. They have now gone back to the terms fixed by 
 two committees of the masters and operatives at the close of the 
 strike in 1853, viz.: — 
 
 1. The operatives to work fifty-seven hours per week. 
 
 2. The rate of wages (as a minimum) to be 5d. per hour, i.e. 25s. 
 per week. 
 
 3. Six months' notice to be given by either party wishing a 
 change. 
 
 The rule as to overtime and piecewoi-k is as follows : — " Working 
 overtime tending to our general injury by keeping members out of 
 employment, shall be abolished, except in cases of accident or 
 necessity, but no strike to take place for the abolition thereof with- 
 out a special grant. Members persisting in working overtime in 
 opposition to the lodge of which they are members, shall be fined at 
 the discretion of such lodge. A lessening of the hours of labour 
 would prove a great remedy for the wrongs we suffer. It is also 
 requested that lodges harassed by piecework, or sub-contracting, do 
 apply at a reasonable time for a grant to abolish it. When sub-con- 
 tracting and piecework are abolished, such is.binding on the society." 
 
 The principal rules as to strikes are as follows : — 
 
 " 1 . Any payable member thrown out of employment in consequence 
 of being a member, or for adhering to the laws of this Society [or 
 for transacting or regulating any matter connected with the Society], 
 shall receive the sum of 15s. per week, provided such member shall 
 not have used abusive language towards the employer, and payable 
 members on legal strike receive the sum of 10s. per week. 
 
 " 2. When a strike for an advance of wages is contemplated by any 
 lodge, the secretary to report the same to the central committee, 
 showing the number that would be out, the number of payable and 
 paying members, the state of trade, and the position of the Society 
 in the neighbourhood; also the number of members belonging to such 
 lodge that voted for and against the application being made. The 
 secretary to summon each member of the lodge to discuss whether a 
 strike shall be made or not — the votes to be by ballot : the votes of 
 the majority to be binding. 
 
 " 3. If any employer attempt to reduce wages at any period of the 
 year, or attempt to introduce piecework where it has not been estab- 
 lished, or to increase the hours of labour, or infringe upon the estab- 
 lished meal hours, or introduce individuals not of the trade, brothers 
 may resist such infringements without a gi-ant, if acceded to by a 
 majority of the members of the lodge, but in all cases to wait on 
 employers previous to striking." 
 
 There have been no general strikes of late in the trade ; the last 
 was in July, 1853, and lasted for six weeks. The object of the men 
 was to get their wages raised from 4|rf. to 5Jrf. per hour, i.e., from 
 23s. to 26s. per week ; to reduce their hours from sixty to fifty-seven ; 
 and to be entitled to six months' notice before change of wages. The 
 
286 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 masters oiFereil 24s. iper week of sixty hours ; eventually a compro- 
 mise was made, viz., 5d. per hour-, or 25s. for a week of fifty-seven 
 hours and six months' notice to be given. 
 
 The Society has fixed tramp laws: the allowance is Qd. and a bed, 
 except on Saturday, when the allowance is doubled. Tramp mem- 
 bers on strike receive Is. and a bed, and on Saturday Is. 6d. 
 
 The rule as to apprentices is as follows: — 
 
 '■ Boys entering the trade, on no occasion to exceed fourteen years 
 of age, and to be legally bound apprentice for seven years. No boy 
 to work more than three years without being legally bound. Fee 
 for entrance of apprentices into the Society, 2s. 6d. No boys to 
 be admitted into this Society under eighteen, and none to obtain 
 the privilege of this law except they have been legally bound, or are 
 masons' sons. Each locality to use the best means of carrying out 
 the full restrictions of this law." 
 
 The pay of apprentices is 5s. a week at the commencement, rising 
 one shilling per week annually. 
 
 One custom of the operatives seems to be peculiarly vexatious to 
 masters: viz., that no employer shall purchase manufactured material 
 of another, or bring manufactured store to the buildings at all. 
 Previous to 1855, men were employed to dress the stone at the quany 
 at so much per piece. This practice was a convenient one for many 
 reasons. The stones become lighter in the dressing, and a saving was 
 made of thirty-five per cent, for cartage and toll dues ; no waste 
 shivers had to be removed ; the inconvenience of dressing the stone 
 in crowded parts of the city was avoided, and material was made 
 ready in case it might be wanted ; and thereby employment was pro- 
 vided to those who would be idle, and the necessity of working over- 
 time obviated. Another reason for it, which commended it to the 
 masters, and made it obnoxious to the men, was, that men in the 
 quarries did the work by the piece 25 per cent, cheaj^er than the 
 masons do it in the town working by the hour. But why should 
 not the work be done at the quarry, and if necessary the workman 
 paid by time ? The only reason of the rule can be to secure to the 
 town-masons an unjust monopoly. 
 
 GLASGOW CAEPENTEES AND JOINEES. 
 
 [Materials : — ^Answers by the Secretary, on Ibehalf of the Operatives' Union, to 
 the questions concerning Trades' Unions and Strikes ; Rules of the Union of the 
 Operatives, and Balance-sheet of ditto ; Rules of the Masters' Association.] 
 
 The operatives in 1855 combined themselves into a Union, entitled 
 " The Protective Association of the Joiners of Glasgow and West of 
 Scotland" having for its object, "the more complete and general 
 protection of the interests of the trade, a fairer remuneration for 
 labour, the amelioration of the social condition of the operatives, 
 and the advancement of the rights of labour." There are two 
 branches, one at Dumfries, the other at Eenfrew, each of which is 
 bound regularly to remit the monies drawn by them to the Glasgow 
 Committee, and cannot, but at its own expense, strike without the 
 
Glasgow Trades— ^Carpenten and Joiners. 287 
 
 consent of the whole Society. In connexion with, it there are a 
 a Benefit Society, and also a Fire Insurance Society, confined to 
 members of the Protective Association; but the funds are distinct, 
 and it is optional for members to join or not. Otherwise the Society 
 is not connected with any other Society, if we except the Trades' 
 Council of Glasgow. 
 
 The numbers are at present about 500 : the entrance fee 5s., the 
 weekly contribution 2d., but these are from time to time altered. 
 
 The wages are 5c?. per hour, the number of hours per week fifty- 
 seven, i.e. about 24*. per week. There is by mutual understanding, 
 though not by rule, no piecework. As to strikes, &c., it is pre- 
 scribed by the 7th rule that " in case of dispute between workmen 
 and employers, it shall be imperative on the part of such workmen, 
 previous to stopping work in consequence of such dispute, to notify 
 the same, and the cause thereof, to the acting committee of this 
 Society. The committee shall use all reasonable means — either by 
 conferring with the parties, or by means of arbitration — to obtain an 
 amicable adjustment of the matter in dispute. If the committee 
 should fail to obtain a settlement by this means, and a stoppage of 
 work, in consequence, be approved of by the committee, each 
 member ofi" work for this cause, or otherwise fully entitled, shall re- 
 ceive from the funds of the Society 10s. per week so long as such 
 stoppage shall continue. Any member requiring to prosecute an 
 employer at law, or defend himself from prosecution on the part of an 
 employer, shall submit his case to the consideration of the committee, 
 and if the committee approve of such prosecution or defence, the 
 expenses of the same shall be defrayed from the funds. Should any 
 member of this Society be discharged from his employment for 
 taking a leading or active part in bringing any grievance before his 
 employer for redress, or urging the claims of this Society upon 
 members of the trade, or because he is a member of this Society, or 
 for any other cause which the committee of this Society shall hold 
 to be similar or equal ; on such a member proving to the satisfaction 
 of the committee, that he has been so discharged or victimized, he 
 shall receive from the funds of the Society the full amount of his 
 wages until he procure other employment." 
 
 Strikes have been very frequent in this trade : the last few have 
 been as follows : — 
 
 1852. For a rise from 22s. to 24s. per week. Struggle short, but 
 successful. 
 
 1854. For a reduction of time from sixty to fifty-seven hours per 
 
 week. The masters volunteered to pay extra for the addi- 
 tional hours, but the men declined ; and after a short strug- 
 gle succeeded in their end. 
 
 1855. January. To resist a return to the sixty hours. Struggle for 
 
 six weeks : eventually successful. 
 1855. May. Strike of Ship Joiners only, for a rise in their wages, 
 for sixty hours' work, from 24s. to 27s. Lasted nine 
 months : ended successfully. 
 
288 
 
 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 1857. March. For a rise from 24*. to 26s. Lasted a few days : — 
 
 successful. 
 1857. October. Against a reduction from 26s. to 23s. 9d. : lasted 
 
 a fortnight and failed. 
 ] 858. For a rise from 23s. 9d. to 26s. After a few days, successful. 
 The rules make no provision for tramps, and do not affect appren- 
 tices : the usual term of apprenticeship is five years. 
 
 The following are the balance-sheets for the years from November, 
 1857, to November, 1858. 
 
 INCOME. £ s. d. 
 
 Nov. 2, 1857, Cash in Bank 
 
 and Treasurer's hand.. 861 10 8i 
 
 To Entry Money 66 9 
 
 „ Contribution Money 214 14 1 
 
 „ Emblematical Cards 10 8 
 
 „ Drawn at Special Meetings 3 14 TJ 
 
 „ Fines 3 6 
 
 Received from Branch Lodges 
 as follows : — 
 
 Kenfrew £7 10 
 
 Greenock 7 
 
 Dumfries 3 10 
 
 Linlithgow ... 14 
 
 19 4 
 
 To Interest added to Bank 
 
 account 4 16 6 
 
 „ Drawn for Hall Rents .... 28 
 
 £699 3 1 
 
 EXPENDITURE. £ 3. d. 
 
 By Rent of Hall 28 8 8J 
 
 „ Repairing and Decorating 
 
 , Hall 7 15 11 
 
 „ Water, Gas, Coals and 
 
 Taxes 4 17 1 
 
 „ Expenses incurred in 
 
 Law Suit 12 7 
 
 „ Printing and Stationery 16 9 7i 
 
 „ Special Meetings 14 3 7 
 
 „ Commission to Collectors 3 4 
 
 „ Parcels to Branches ...... 6 2 
 
 „ Deputations 2 6 3 
 
 ,, Paid to Members on 
 
 Strike 300 6 6 
 
 „ Paid to Trades' Council 15 
 
 „ Paid for Designs and 
 
 Detailsof Hall Desk... 15 
 
 „ Expended on Baking As- 
 sociation 2 10 
 
 ,, Office-Bearers' and Hall 
 
 Keeper's Salaries 22 1 4 
 
 £405 1 8 
 
 " Cash in Bank and Trea- 
 surer's hand 294 1 5 
 
 £699 3 1 
 
 William Sikolaie, 
 John Strtjthers, 
 
 } 
 
 Auditors. 
 
 In the preceding year the expense of strikes was only £28, but a 
 loan of £100 for the masons', for the same purpose, was repaid. In 
 the following year we find these items : Victim money £6 6s. 8rf. — 
 Loan to Plummers, lOOl. — Advanced on Lawsuit, £44 15s. 
 
 The master joiners of G-lasgow formed themselves into a society 
 in the year 1836, on the occasion of a large strike against working 
 by candle-light out of the workshop, and with the avowed intention 
 of ultimately dissolving the Union of the men. The rules, as then 
 drawn up, made provision for a general lock-out by the masters, 
 under very heavy penalties to those who abstained, and required that 
 no member should employ a workman who did not subscribe a 
 declaration that he was not a member of the Union. 
 
Glasgoiu Trades — Carpenters and Joiners. 289 
 
 This masters' Society appears to have disappeared, or to have been 
 absorbed into the "West of Scotland Master Joiners' Protection 
 Society," a society which has adopted more moderate terms, requires 
 no declaration from the workman, does not profess to ask the extinc- 
 tion of the Union, and does not so clearly contemplate a general lock- 
 out. The principal rules are as follows: — 
 
 Rule 1. The object and purpose of the Association to be defined 
 generally as this, viz.: — To support, encourage, and defend each 
 other against all combinations and demands and interference of the 
 workmen, which may be deemed of an oppressive and unreasonable 
 ^character; and, for these purposes, to contribute to a common fund, 
 and to co-operate and act in concert. 
 
 Rule 2. In particular, the members not to employ the workmen or 
 apprentices of their fellow-members when on strike; not to employ 
 the workmen at any time when the member they are leaving signifies 
 dissent on grounds which the committee consider sufficient: and never 
 to employ apprentices under indenture or engagement to others, 
 without their master's written clearance. Further, the members to 
 make common cause with any one or more of their number, who may, 
 in the opinion of the committee, be unfairly attacked or interfered 
 with by combinations of workmen, or by their own employees ; to 
 aid the masters so interfered with, in all actions at law, and other 
 measures, judicial and extra-judicial, required for resisting strikes, 
 punishing misdemeanors, repressing insubordination, and otherwise 
 extricating the masters so attacked or interfered with from the diffi- 
 culties in which they may be involved by such combination, or by 
 their workmen; the particular time, method, and extent of the aid 
 being determined and directed by the committee, as they think meet, 
 with reference to each particular case. 
 
 Rule 3. If so determined at a general meeting of the Society, 
 for the purpose of more effectually • putting down strikes and re- 
 pressing insubordination, or resisting interference at any particular 
 works, or for otherwise defending or protecting the general interests^ 
 of any one or more, or all of the members, to be bound to stop their 
 works and warn off, and at the end of the warning turn off, their 
 journeymen-hands, and that to such extent as regards the number to 
 be turned off, and for such time, as may be necessary. Members who- 
 may thus be subjected to loss from breach of contract with their 
 employers, or otherwise, may be compensated therefor out of the- 
 funds of the Society, to such extent as may be determined by the, 
 committee. 
 
 Rule 4. To mitigate the inconvenience and loss to ensue from suck- 
 necessary breach of their contracts with employers, a clause to be. 
 inserted in all contracts to be completed within a specified time, to 
 be entered into by any member of the Society from and after the date 
 of his signing the constitution, exempting himself from all responsi- 
 bility to arise from the strikes of the men, partial or total, to the 
 effect of the time such strike may endure being abated or not 
 reckoned in computing the stipulated time for such contracts; and 
 
 XI 
 
290 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 the obligation in sucli contract for penalties or damages, or other 
 consequences to ensue from the work not being finished in the time 
 stipulated, to be qualified to this cflTect. 
 
 Rule 5. A fund shall be provided to meet expenses ; to which 
 fund the masters shall contribute rateably, the standard of contribu- 
 tion being the number employed on the average of the preceding 
 year, as appearing from the pay books ; the rate of assessment to be 
 fixed by the committee. 
 
 Rule 7. A general meeting every three months. 
 
 Rule 10. A fine not exceeding £20 to follow any breach of the 
 constitution. 
 
 PAINTERS. 
 
 [Materials : — Answers by the Secretary of the Glasgow Master Painters' Asso- 
 ciation to the questions addressed to Employers of Labour and to the questions on 
 Strikes ; Report of three Meetings of the Trades' Council on the subject of the 
 Painters' Strike of 1860 ; newspaper extracts, and a few miscellaneous papers.] 
 
 In this trade piecework is practically prohibited by the Union; 
 the payment is by the hour. In 1845 this was Z^d.; in 1847, Ad.; 
 in 1850 there was a strike, and wages rose to 4|rf. ; in 1855, in 
 consequence of another strike, they rose to 5d., and have remained 
 at that point ever since. The men state that in summer their work- 
 ing time is ten hours a day for five days, and seven hours on Satur- 
 day — a full week's wages being 23*. 9d. In winter, employers 
 regulate the hours; these generally are from six to seven per diem 
 — in all from thirty to forty a week ; and wages are paid for the exact 
 number of hours worked; so strictly, indeed, is this rule kept, that 
 if an accident occurs, as by the falling of a scaffolding, the injured 
 man is paid up to the exact hour of the occurrence. A full weekly 
 wage in winter is \Qs. 8d. They also state that the greater num- 
 ber of the men are out of work from six to sixteen weeks every 
 year, and therefore, taking the whole year round, the average weekly 
 wages is 14s. Neither master nor man is required to give warning. 
 
 In 1853 the operatives established their Union, which includes 97 
 per cent, of operative painters in Glasgow, to make wages uniform 
 throughout the trade. With this view an agreement was drawn up 
 to be signed by both operative and master at the beginning of the 
 year. It contained the rate of wages which was to be paid if the 
 man was employed, and a mutual undertaking that during the 
 ensuing year neither j)arty would attempt a change in that rate. 
 There appears to have been some difficulty in procuring the signa- 
 ture of the masters to this document, and also some irregularity in 
 carrying it out on the part of some masters. However, the practice 
 remained up to the end of last year. In December, 1859, a large 
 minority of masters came to an understanding with each other that 
 they would not sign the document. In March, 1860, the following 
 memorial was presented to the masters, containing the terms on which 
 the journeymen proposed to work, which were the same as those of 
 the preceding year: — 
 
Glasgow Trades — Painters. 291 
 
 "to the master PAINTEES of GLASGOW AND SUBUEBS. 
 
 " The folloioing Memorial from the Members of the Glasgow 
 Operative House and Ship Painters' Society is respectfully 
 submitted to you for consideration : — 
 
 " GE>tTLEMEN, — We have great pleasure in returning you our 
 thanks for the generally fair and upright manner in which you have 
 fulfilled the agreement of the past year. 
 
 " Although the depression of trade might have been put forth as a 
 reason for breach of bargain, we are happy to acknowledge that only 
 in a very few cases was any unfair advantage taken, and then only 
 by parties who occupy a very small position in the trade, both as 
 regards the amount of work they do, and the manner in which it is 
 executed. 
 
 " We now respectfully submit for your consideration the terms on 
 which we propose to work, from the 10th of April, 1859, till the 
 14th of April, I860:— 
 
 " First — That the wages be not less than 23s. 9d. per week of 
 fifty-seven hours, or Sd. per hour. 
 
 " Second — We dislike the working of overtime. It is attended tp 
 us, — individually and collectively, — with many disadvantages. We, 
 would respectfully request that employers only resort to it in cases of 
 emergency, and then only when there are no unemployed members of 
 the trade to be got. To assist in effecting this, we propose that ;for 
 every hour worked before six o'clock a.m., or after six o'clock p.m., 
 or after the usual hour of quitting on Saturday, the men be paid not 
 less than Id. Lost time may be made up the same day only at the 
 ordinary rate. Also, when working in the country, at the season of 
 the year when on short time, the men may work on Saturday as long 
 as on the other days of the week without being entitled to the over- 
 time allowance. 
 
 " Third — That when working beyond the two-mile boundary from 
 the Royal Exchange, the men be paid Qd. a day extra, and be at 
 the boundary at the hour of commencing work when required ; and 
 that when working within the two-mile boundary, and beyond one 
 mile from the Royal Exchange, they be paid Zd. per day extra, and 
 be at the job at the hour of commencing work when required ; 
 and Avhen within one mile from the Royal Exchange, be either at 
 the shop or at the job as required. 
 
 " Fourth — That when obliged to take lodgi-ngs in the country, the 
 men be paid 4«. per week extra, or ^d. per day. 
 
 "N.B. — These extra rates apply alike to summer and winter day. 
 
 " Fifth — That the men be paid weekly, and, unless paid at the 
 job, travel to the shop for their pay in their master's time. 
 
 " Sixth — That there be no lying day kept, but wages paid in full 
 up to the time of receiving them. 
 
 " We have repeatedly called your attention to the evils resulting 
 from the lax manner in which apprentices are often engaged, and the 
 nearly systematic method in favour with many employers of taking 
 
 u 2 
 
292 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 on and paying them off, according to the fluctuations of trade; and 
 so little good has resulted from our efforts, that we are greatly dis- 
 couraged from endeavouring to promote a just settlement of this 
 matter, of which the wise arrangements adopted by our Association 
 in 1853, and cordially coincided in by your body, seemed at one 
 time likcdy to effect a salutary adjustment, and the non-fulfihnent of 
 which has aggravated the bad state of matters so much complained 
 of by all respectable employers, and so "severely felt by our body. 
 We again submit these regulations, and respectfully offer you our 
 assistance in carrying them into effect. 
 
 " First — That we will not employ any boy but as an apprentice 
 bound under a stamped indenture, which indenture will be entered 
 on within one month after commencing work. 
 
 " Second — That we will not engage any boy for any term under 
 six years' apprenticeship. 
 
 " Third — That we will not engage any boy under thirteen years' 
 of age. 
 
 " Fourth — That we shall not engage any boy who has been at the 
 trade formerly, without first communicating with his former master, 
 and being satisfied with his previous servitude and conduct. 
 
 " Fifth — That the wages of apprentices be — 
 
 " For the first year ... ... Zs. per week. 
 
 " For the second year ... ... 4*. per week. 
 
 " For the third year ... ... 5s. per week. 
 
 " For the fourth year ... ... 6s. 6d. per week. 
 
 " For the fifth year ... ... 8s. per week. 
 
 " For the sixth year ... ... 10s. per week. 
 
 " Sixth — That we shall send a list of the apprentices in our em- 
 ployment to the secretary of the Operative House and Ship Painters' 
 Society annually, or when required. 
 
 " There are various grievances which you, as well as our body, 
 labour under, and which, by mutual co-operation, might be ame- 
 liorated or removed. Wc will be happy to meet any number of your 
 body to arrange and adjust, so far as practicable, any matters con- 
 nected with our common interests; and requesting your answer 
 within ten days, we remain, on behalf of the Associated Operative 
 House and Ship Painters of Glasgow and suburbs, 
 
 " Respectfully yours, 
 
 " EoBEET Mtjreay, President 
 " Donald M'Donald, Secretary. 
 " Alex. M'Taggaet, Treasurer. 
 " Painters' Hall, 34, Htjtcheson Stkeet, Glasgow. 
 " 29<A March,, 1859." 
 
 A large minority of masters refused, as had been concerted be- 
 tween them, to sign the agreement. They did not object to the rate 
 of payment proposed in it, nor did they contemplate any departure 
 from it, but they refused to bind themselves to any terms for a year. 
 Therefore the men, on April 17th, proposed a conference; to this 
 
Glasgow Trades — Painters. 293 
 
 tlae masters acceded; the men then asked that reporters might be 
 present; this the secretary, without the authority of the masters, 
 refused. Eventually the masters met alone, and sent word to the 
 Association that they intended to abide by their resolution. So there 
 was no conference, and the men struck about the 20th of April ; and 
 then, being anxious to procure publicity for their cause, laid the 
 matter before the United Trades' Council. The Council desired to 
 hear the other side, and requested the master painters to attend at a 
 special meeting of the Council; some masters came, but declined to 
 speak in the presence of any operative painters, on the ground that 
 the operatives had, at the previous meeting, advocated their case in 
 the absence of the masters. The operatives then withdrew, and the 
 master painters had a fair hearing. A second meeting was then sum- 
 moned for the 9th of May, andboth parties were invited, but no masters 
 came; nor did any come to a third meeting on May 15. The result 
 was that the Trades' Council, who had first taken up the matter 
 rather coldly, passed a resolution unanimously : — 
 
 " That after mature consideration of the causes which have led 
 to the Operative Painters' strike, and the efforts which they have 
 repeatedly made to arrange the matter with the employers (who 
 have rejected their proposals), this meeting is of opinion that the 
 objections urged against ratifying the annual contract of agreement 
 are frivolous, and inconsistent with the social and commercial usages 
 of the age; and that the operative painters' annual mode of settling 
 their wages, and other working conditions of their trade, is well 
 calculated to promote concord between employers and employed, and 
 also to prevent unscrupulous parties from preying either on the 
 honourably disposed employers or workmen." 
 
 And the Council proceeded to recommend the operative painters 
 to public support. This appeal received a warm response ; other 
 trades contributed at the rate of £100 per week, and besides this 
 there was an extra levy of 2s. 6d. per week on all members of the 
 Association still in employ by the masters who did not object to 
 sign the agreement. By this means the Association was enabled to 
 pay aliment to the extent of Is. lOd. per diem, or 11*. per week, to 
 those on strike, in number about 200. 
 
 About the 25th of May, the masters proposed to refer the matter 
 to neutral arbitration. On the 28th the operative painters met to 
 consider this proposition, and came to the following resolutions: — 
 
 " 1. That having experienced the beneficial effects of the annual 
 mode of settling wages, &c., we consider that it should be retained. 
 
 " 2. That it would promote the interests of the trade, if the 
 master painters were to form a permanent Association, with an 
 arbitration board, consisting of an equal number of employers and 
 journeymen, fro'm their respective Societies, and a neutral chairman, 
 mutually appointed, to decide and settle all trade disputes. By this 
 arrangement we believe that strikes (so mutually destructive) would 
 be entirely prevented. 
 
 " 3. That as the feeling of most of those whose social position is 
 
294 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 higher than the working classes, is adverse to workmen, whether 
 they (the workmen) are right or wrong, and as the majority of 
 employers have already agreed to the arrangements of last year, we 
 respectfully decline, at the desire of a minority, to submit this 
 special case to any so-called neutral party whom the Masters' Asso- 
 ciation might choose, and we see no probability of both Associations 
 agreeing in the choice of an umpire. 
 
 " 4. That, from the evidence before us, we conclude that the 
 object of the associated employers was not self-protection but aggres- 
 sion, and as the strike is tjfcie natural result of this premeditated 
 policy, we consider them in justice bound to pay all expenses 
 incurred. 
 
 " 5. That as we find that other trades as well as ours are in the 
 custom of having the rate of wages fixed by mutual agreement, we 
 decline at present to adopt any other method, but are willing to 
 accept, as formerly, the signature of the chairman of the associated 
 employers as binding for that body. 
 
 " 6. That should a conference between the two Associations take 
 place, the foregoing articles be the basis of the terms to be 
 negotiated." 
 
 About the same time the operatives started a Co-operative Paint- 
 ing Company, the capital being £200, raised by forty shares of £5 
 each, and premises were tak?n and orders received. 
 
 Thus stood the strike on May 28, five weeks after its commence- 
 ment. Information as to the close of it or as to the success of the 
 Company has not been received. 
 
 The strike of the painters was the cause of a slight strike amongst 
 the slaters. Two slaters were, in the absence of the painters on 
 strike, set by their master to do painters' work, declined, and were 
 at once dismissed. All the slaters in the same employ then struck. 
 The masters then held a meeting, and, on the operatives' Association 
 confessing that they ought to have given notice of their rule, that 
 slaters do not do painters' work for master painters whose men are 
 on strike, agreed to conform to the rule ; the master took back the 
 two men he had dismissed, and the others returned. 
 
 At the same time that the painters were on strike, they had a 
 serious dispute with the gilders, who complained to the United 
 Trades' Council that the painters improperly assumed the monopoly 
 of doing certain gilding work, in which gilders were entitled to 
 participate. The painters upheld their right to do their o^vn gilding, 
 for the reasons that painters had always been gilders in external 
 and internal decorations; that gilding requires knowledge of paint- 
 ing, light and shade, &c.; and that, except in a few peculiar cases, 
 gilders had not been accustomed to gild painters' work. 
 
 At the same time the painters limited their claim : — 
 
 1. To all gilding done on painted surfaces in interiors, in- 
 cluding ceilings, cornices, walls, and woodwork; and 
 corresponding parts in shijJ-work. 
 
Glasgow Trades — Bakers. 295 
 
 2. And to all gilding on the exterior, including sign boards, 
 ornamental designs, railings, and the outside' gilding of 
 ships. 
 They expressly disavowed any claim to gild mere furniture, as 
 mirror frames, picture frames, &c. 
 
 This defence seems to have been held quite satisfactory by the 
 Trades' Council. 
 
 GLASGOW BAKERS. 
 
 [Materials : — Answers of a master baker to questions submitted to employers 
 of labour ; Rules of the Jom-neymen Bakers' Association of Scotland.] 
 
 The Journeymen Bakers' Association of Scotland is divided into 
 nineteen branches in diiferent towns, but Glasgow is the seat of the 
 central board, as the executive committee. Its object is stated to be 
 " the attainment of the rights of the operatives, the protection of their 
 interests, and their social elevation as a body in society." The en- 
 trance fee is from 2s. to 10s., but for one who has worked out a formal 
 apprenticeship Is. only ; the weekly contribution 2d. It must be 
 remembered that in some respects journeymen bakers have, as com- 
 pared with other operatives, great advantages. They have no 
 broken time all the year through, no tools to purchase or repair, 
 little wear and tear of clothes, and no risk of accident. Their busi- 
 ness does not admit of piecework, they are paid therefore by the 
 week. Their wages are nominally fixed by the Union at the uniform 
 rate of 22s., but in point of fact vary according to the skill of the 
 workman from 18s. to 22s. ; for the strike in 1857, to establish the 
 uniform rate of 24s., proved inoperative, partly by the yielding of 
 many individual members of the Society, partly by the introduction 
 into the trade of non-unionists. The rules provide that no member 
 engage himself upon any other terms than a cash wage, or for a 
 longer period than one week ; that he receive the full amount of his 
 wage at the end of each week, and that a week's warning be given 
 on either side, and that the operative receive payment for all Fast 
 days in lieu of " Sabbath day sponging." The hours of work are 
 twelve per diem, meal hours included, jsractically from five a.m. to 
 five P.M. ; overtime work allowed only in cases of emergency ; rate, 
 up to seven p.m., time and a quarter payment, from seven p.m. to ten 
 P.M., time and a half. No work after ten p.m. " Also each branch is 
 to have a local law, sanctioned by the central board, fixing the rate 
 of their jobbing pay — 1st half-day, five a.m., 2nd, eleven a.m. No 
 jobber is allowed to sponge unless he has been jobbing part of the 
 previous day, without receiving one half day's pay." 
 
 In some respects the rules of this Society are peculiarly strict. 
 No member may accept a situation, the character of which is un- 
 known or doubtful, without first inquiring of the oificers of the 
 nearest branch. No member may work beside a non-member. (In 
 associations of other trades this prohibition is limited to the case 
 where members form a majority in the shop.) Apprentices are pro- 
 hibited from boarding or lodging in the house of their employer, and 
 
296 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 from commencing work before five a.m. All apprentices are to be 
 bound for a period not less tban five years, under a regular indenture, 
 after a trial of one month ; the expenses of indenture to be paid by 
 the Association. The usual number is two apprentices to three jour- 
 neymen, but this rule is not strictly kept. 
 
 LIVERPOOL TRADES. 
 
 JOINERS. 
 
 [Materials : — Rules of the Friendly Society of Operative House Carpenters 
 and Joiners of Great Britain ; Bye-laws of the Liverpool Lodge attached to the 
 above Society ; Answers in behalf of ditto to questions concerning Trades' Unions.] 
 The Carpenters and Joiners are united into one Society, having 
 forty-nine lodges in various towns of Great Britain, and the central 
 seat of their government: is Nottingham. 
 
 By these rules " a general strike " is defined to be a case where the 
 strike has been authorized by the whole Union, or is against an in- 
 fringement affecting a whole town. A " turn-out " is defined as a 
 partial strike in a shop, and against some established or customary 
 rule, or against reduction of wages to a particular member or mem- 
 bers. No strike for advance of wages is to be made, nor notice of 
 new privileges to be given to employers without the sanction of the 
 lodges, nor is there to be any strike without an attempt having first 
 been made to settle the matters of contention between employers and 
 employed by an amicable negotiation. No lodge is allowed to strike 
 for any new privilege at a time when the numbers already on strike 
 exceed one for every fifty throughout the whole Society, save only 
 where there is an attempt to reduce wages. Members on strike or 
 turn-out, or members discharged on account of their connexion with 
 the Union, or resisting a reduction of wages, receive half wages. 
 Discharged oificers of the Society receive fuU wages. This aliment 
 is raised by the government secretary sending notice of a special levy 
 pro rata upon all the lodges, who thereupon transmit their quota to 
 the lodge for whom it is destined. 
 
 Provision is made for tramp members, and the Society makes good 
 to members the loss of their tools by fire. There is also an Accident 
 and Burial Fund in connexion with the Society. These funds are 
 raised by extra levies. There is a penalty of not less than 2s. 6d. for 
 disclosing the transactions of the Society to a non-society man, or 
 for getting employment for a non-society man, whilst a member is 
 unemployed. 
 
 Piecework is prohibited under a fine of not less than 21s. 
 
 The Liverpool Lodge, containing 254 members, is bound by these 
 rules : — it also has bye-laws of its own; the only one which needs 
 be noticed is rule 21, that any member having tools stolen, shall 
 receive from the Society two-thirds of their value, and legal steps 
 shall be taken to bring the offending party to justice. 
 
 Joiners are paid by the week, but at difierent rates according to 
 degrees of skill of the operatives, the extremes differing 4*. one from 
 the other. There is no rule that equal wages shall be paid for the 
 
Liverpool Trades — Painters. 297 
 
 same kind of work : the present average rate is 26«. The number of 
 hours' work is not fixed by rule, but only by custom. They are from 
 six A.M. to six P.M., including two hours for meals, on five days of the 
 week. On Saturday the men generally leave ofi' at four, having 
 made up the two odd hours by extra work on other days. The 
 number of hours worked by joiners is greater at Liverpool than at 
 any other town connected with the Union, except Carlisle. 
 
 At the Liverpool lodge, the entrance fee is 2s. 6d., the weekly 
 contribution, 3d. ; one-third of the weekly contributions is set aside 
 for the sick fund, and is, if necessary, augmented by a special levy. 
 
 LIVERPOOL PAINTERS. 
 
 [Materials : — Answers on behalf of the Operative Painters' Association to the 
 questions on Trades' Unions.] 
 
 The objects of this Association are, according to Rule 2, " To 
 promote the interest of its members in procuring employment, to 
 protect them in the due exercise of their rights and privileges as 
 workmen, to mediate when necessary between the employer and his 
 men for the furtherance of their common interests, and generally to 
 promote the welfare and stability of the trade in accordance with 
 5 Geo. IV. c. 95, "An Act to Repeal the Laws relative to the Com- 
 bination of Workmen." Besides this, a member has the free use of 
 a club room, where masters leave orders for men to be employed ; of 
 a comfortable reading room during four months in winter, where a 
 large number of London, Dublin, and local daily and weekly news- 
 papers and periodicals are provided, and where the nucleus of a 
 library has been lately formed. The widow or next of kin, on the 
 death of a member, receives £5, and so does a member on the death 
 of his wife. 
 
 The Association is independent, and can, if it choose, even conduct 
 a strike at its own cost; but ordinarily the strike is undertaken only 
 with the consent of the central executive, and at the cost of the 
 common fund, raised by contributions of Irf. a week from each member, 
 from all the societies composing the Painters' Alliance. This 
 Alliance consists altogether of fifteen societies of painters from Man- 
 chester, Sheffield, Blackburn, Bury, Rochdale, Preston, Hyde, Hey- 
 wood, Cheadle, Over Darwen, Stockport, Ashton, &c. The central 
 executive, to which each constituent society sends delegates, meets 
 annually in each town in succession. The Liverpool branch is also 
 connected with the Trades' Guardian Association, which represents 
 eighteen trades in Liverpool, including all the building trades; it 
 numbers 101 members. The entrance fee is 2s. 6d., and the weekly 
 contribution 2c?. No one is admitted except he produce satisfactory- 
 evidence of his having served a legal apprenticeship to the trade. 
 
 Piecework, as being the cause of bad work and bad wages, is pro- 
 hibited; so, too, no engagement may be made for longer time than a 
 week, and no sub-contract or middleman's work is allowed. This is 
 otherwise in Glasgow, where painters' work is let out to " grainers," 
 or middlemen — a practice, as the masters say, more profitable to 
 
298 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 themselves, but entailing inferior work. The wages are by the 
 hour = 4*. 4rf. per diem, or 26*. weekly, during the summer, or 4«. 
 per diem, and 24«. weekly, during the rest of the year. This is the 
 minimum wage, fixed at a general meeting of the Society, and held 
 binding upon all members working in Liverpool, or under Liverpool 
 employers. There has been only one advance in wages during the last 
 few years. 
 
 The hours of work, as fixed by Rule 30 of the Society, are in 
 winter from daylight to dusk, and in summer ten hours, exclusive of 
 meals. In practice, 10 J hours are worked daily, and a half-holiday 
 taken on Saturday. 
 
 There is a rule — not universally enforced — that non-society men 
 coming to work at a club shop, shall within five days join the Society 
 or leave the shop; if not, the committee to take steps. Members are 
 fined 5s. if they recommend for work non-members whilst members 
 are on the non-employed list. This list is kept in the Society's room, 
 and any employer can have his choice; if not, the men are sent to 
 him by rotation. Also by Eule 31, the committee is empowered to 
 fine a member \0s. upon complaint by the employer. 
 
 The rules as to apprentices are not strictly kept, viz., that there 
 should be only one to six journeymen, that the apprentices should 
 be legally bound for seven years, and should receive the regular 
 apprentice wages. 
 
 LIVERPOOL SHEP-JOINERS. 
 
 [Materials : — -Answers to the questions concerning Trade Unions ; the Rules of 
 the Liverpool Ship-joiners' Association; Rules of the Liverpool Ship-joiners' 
 Friendly Society.] 
 
 Ship-joinees are neither shipwrights nor carpenters, their employ- 
 ment is to make and fit up ships' cabins. The operatives' Association, 
 which is not connected with any other, except the United Ship 
 Trades' Association, was instituted in October, 1853, for the purpose 
 of facilitating the means of obtaining and of affording every neces- 
 sary information relative to the employment of its members, and for 
 upholding the rights, interests, and privileges of the trade, in accord- 
 ance with the Act of Parliament, 5 Geo. IV. cap. 95, entitled " An 
 Act to Repeal the Laws relative to the Combination of Workmen,'' and 
 agreeably with the constituted laws of the realm. 
 
 The number of members is about four hundred: the entrance 
 money is £4 (half paid by instalments) ; the weekly contribution, \d. 
 The condition of entrance is, if the candidate is under forty-five, to be 
 a member of the Ship-joiners' Friendly Society. The hours of labour 
 are, in summer, ten hours, from six a.m. to six p.m., with two hours 
 allowed for meals ; in winter, from daylight to dusk, with one hour 
 and a half allowed. This rule is enforced by the fine of Is. 
 
 The rate of wages is fixed during the year at 5«. per day (before 
 1858, it was 6s.), and for all overtime at Is. per hour. Piecework is 
 prohibited, penalty for breach, 1*. 
 
 As to contract work, Rule 9 provides that lump work, by sub-con- 
 tract be discontinued: but that this must not be considered as inter- 
 
Liverpool Trades — Tailors. 299 
 
 fering with the right of members to compete with non-members in 
 taking original contracts from merchants or master shipwrights: but 
 that at such conti-act work, under no consideration whatever, shall 
 overtime be allowed to be worked so long as members of the Asso- 
 ciation are unemployed; also all members employed at such con- 
 tract work shall have equal shares of the proiits. Penalty to sub- 
 contracting parties £1 per week, to members working for them 10*. 
 per week. 
 
 Members are prohibited under the penalty of Is. per diem from 
 working with a member in arrears, or with non-members, where the 
 members have the majority. 
 
 In this trade, but unconnected with the Association, is a Ship- 
 joiners' Friendly Society, having for its object to provide for mem- 
 bers and their families, in case of accidental death. 
 
 LIVERPOOL TAILORS. 
 
 [Materials : — Rules of the Liverpool Tailors' Institute ; answers to the questions 
 concerning Trades' Unions by a journeyman tailor.] 
 
 The Liverpool Tailors' Institute was established in 1850, with a 
 view "to advance the interest of the trade, and to improve the moral, 
 mental, and social condition of its members, by keeping before the 
 public mind the demoralizing effects of Sunday labour, and the evil 
 results of the ' Sweating System' ; also to provide accommodation for 
 the unemployed, and to establish a library, reading-room, school for 
 cutting," &c. 
 
 The conditions of membership are to be a person of fair character, 
 belonging to the trade, to pay 6d. as entrance fee, and a weekly 
 contribution of Id. 
 
 Tailoring, being a comparatively simple trade, is the resource of 
 multitudes of distressed men and women who have nothing else to 
 do. The work admits of being done at home, and the operative 
 who engages himself upon these terms loses the benefit of the check 
 which the presence of his fellows maintains upon the encroachments 
 of the employer. In such a trade it must always be difficult to 
 establish united action. Liverpool tailors are not an exception : 
 the Institute is in a failing way ; its numbers have fallen from five 
 or six hundred to two hundred, whilst the total number of tailors in 
 the town amounts to 1,800 men and 700 women. It is quite unable 
 to enforce its rules. Unionists work freely with non-unionists ; 
 wages are paid by the piece, calculated at the number of hours the 
 piece requires for production, but there is no price list ; each shop 
 has a different set of prices, which are studiously concealed by the 
 masters, and which the operatives are deterred by fear of dismissal 
 from making known. And so the minimum wage which the Insti- 
 tute stipulates for, namely 4Jrf. an hour for an operative of the first 
 class, and 4d. for one of the second class, is not only not augmented, 
 but is constantly reduced. The common method of reduction is for the 
 employer to produce a garment, and say, " I had this made for 1 Os. 6d. ; 
 I cannot pay you 13s. 6d. for a similar article. You too must make 
 
300 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 it for \0s. 6d., or go elsewhere." The Society cannot prevent this : 
 all it can do is to declare it dishonourable to work oiF the premises, 
 and to remonstrate with employers who try to cut down wages. 
 The twenty-fourth rule, which provides that all disputes arising 
 between the employer and employed shall be submitted to a body of 
 ai'bitrators, consisting of masters and men in equal proportions, is a 
 dead letter. 
 
 So too the hours recognised in the rules as the working hours, 
 namely from six a.m. to seven p.m., including one hour for dinner, 
 are not observed : every shop in Liverpool keeps longer hours. The 
 Benefit Society was fonnerly limited to the members of the Institute: 
 but now all tailors are freely admitted. 
 
 This Institute is distinguished from other ordinaiy Trade Unions 
 in three particulars. 
 
 1. It solicits the accession of masters. Rule 24 prescribes that 
 master tailors may become members by subscribing annually not 
 less than the amount subscribed by the workmen, or honorary mem- 
 bers by an annual contribution of not less than lOs. 
 
 2. It contemplates the possibility of being not an entirely self- 
 supporting Society. By the twenty-sixth rule the secretary is em- 
 powered to solicit subscriptions and donations from master tailors, 
 and the clergy and gentlemen of the town and neighbourhood, towards 
 the support of the Institute. A half-guinea annual subscription con- 
 stitutes the payer an honorary member. 
 
 3. By the twenty-second rule the Institute guarantees to all em- 
 ployers connected with it the efSciency of its members as workmen, 
 and guarantees to make good all work spoiled through negligence, 
 provided all the men in the employ are bona fide members of the 
 Institute. This rule is stated to have been observed by the Institute 
 for some time, but, the masters having disregarded the condition 
 that they should not employ non-unionists, it has ceased to be 
 observed. 
 
 ENGLISH (ESPECIALLT STAFFORDSHIRE) MINERS. 
 
 EviDE>fCE given before this Committee of a member of the National 
 Council of Miners, appointed to watch Parliamentary proceedings in 
 relation to the Mining Act, by the conference of the Mining Trade 
 held at Leeds. 
 
 " I am not favourable to the principal objects of trade societies as 
 at present constituted. I consider that the masters, from their greater 
 wealth, have much more power in regulating the rate of wages than 
 the men ; and I observe that the workmen are not disposed to con- 
 tribute to the funds of the trades' unions except during periods of a 
 considerable depression of trade, or when they are about to strike 
 for some object connected with their work ; but that when wages 
 and work are abundant, they contribute little or nothing towards the 
 funds of trade societies. I also think that trade societies, as at pre- 
 sent constituted, devote their attention far too much to the mere 
 question of wages ; they concern themselves far too little with the 
 
Miners. — English Miners. 301 
 
 improvement of the intelligence, morals, and general condition of the 
 workmen connected with them. The policy of the trade societies 
 when thus confined to the mere question of wages seems to me 
 narrow and short-sighted ; and I have no faith that, thus restricted, 
 any great and permanent advantage can be obtained by the working 
 classes, unless expedients be adopted by trades' unions, which may 
 be slow in their operation, but which would have a tendency to 
 raise the moral and intellectual condition of the whole mass of the 
 workmen. The narrowness, selfishness, and shortsightedness of the 
 objects of trades' unions, seem to me to be in a great degree depen- 
 dent on the characters of the leaders by whom they are guided. 
 These men are often not only incompetent to seek other objects, but 
 likewise the majority of them are selfish and immoral. They make 
 a speculation of their office, as leaders of the strikes ; and I could 
 give many instances (from twenty years' experience) of men who 
 have for years supported themselves by the constant recurrence of 
 strikes which they themselves have promoted or got up. I have been 
 myself, in a great number of instances, instrumental in putting an end 
 to such strikes, by exposing the motives and characters of the per- 
 sons whose interest it was, and who were endeavouring to get them 
 up. One strong reason why men of a low moral character become 
 leaders of the trades' unions is, certainly, the imperfect condition of 
 knowledge and morality among the masses of the working people, 
 especially in South Staffordshire : but I should say that the members 
 of trades' unions are, as respects the whole body of the working 
 classes in South Staffordshire certainly far superior, as regards their 
 morality, to those who are not connected with the trades' unions. I 
 am not connected with any Society. 
 
 "Of late years such objects as the limiting the number of appren- 
 tices, and that class of interferences with the internal regulations of 
 the trade, have become less common ; and trades' unions have been 
 more and more confined to the simple questions of wages, and the 
 hours of labour as connected with wages, between master and servant. 
 "I have known many instances in which trades' unions have been 
 successful, by their proceedings being peacefully carried out. I was 
 aware of the whole of the circumstances connected with the strike of 
 the miners in Staffordshire, in 1858. That strike lasted nineteen 
 weeks, ending in the latter end of October: and I believe that the 
 masters had determined to permit the men to come back to their 
 work with some advantage in a fortnight more, when certain of the 
 leaders, to whom I have previously alluded, and who are men of bad 
 character and low intelligence, induced the men to go in for three 
 weeks, under a pledge to one another to come out again after 
 they had refreshed themselves, and continue the strike. Thus 
 the whole object of the nineteen weeks' strike failed by the indiscre- 
 tion of the leaders; there were no regular trades' unions connected 
 with this strike. After this experience, the South Staffordshire 
 miners began paying to the amalgamated fund for the objects of the 
 petition to Parliament, to enable them to watch the course of legig- 
 
"02 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 lation with respect to the regulation of the mines, and the social 
 improvement of the miners, and the shortening of the hours of labour, 
 and the education of the boys. The Amalgamated Society of Miners 
 had first in view certain of the objects common to Benefit and Insur- 
 ance' Societies ; it also included a labour fund, which was to be avail- 
 able in case of a strike among the miners, and towards which fund 
 contributions were separately given. This Miners' Amalgamated 
 Society held a conference at Ashton, in May, 1858; and I and another 
 delegate from South Staffordshire were deputed to attend this con- 
 ference on behalf of the miners of South Staffordshire. At that 
 meeting of the conference, the working miners adopted a resolution 
 in favour of a petition to Parliament, for a charge of one farthing per 
 ton upon all coal raised from the mines, to be employed in the 
 education of the children of the miners ; likewise for regulations in 
 the mines to prevent accidents, and to promote good ventilation and 
 the comfort of the miners when at work, the shortening of the hours 
 of the labour of the children, and the complete exclusion of women 
 from work on the banks of the mines. These last objects relating 
 to the education, and the morality, and social improvement of the 
 miners, and their protection when at work, have formed the main 
 practical objects of this amalgamated society. The labour fund has 
 not yet been brought into practical operation generally. In the 
 Barnsley district, and in Yorkshire, generally, this fund has, how- 
 ever, been practically brought to bear upon strikes, and has secured 
 to the miners a regulation in those districts, limiting their labour to 
 eight hours. A trades' union, constituted in the way I have thus 
 described, in my opinion differs so materially from that which does 
 not include the whole of those objects, that I have no doubt such a 
 trades' union would tend greatly to improve the condition of the 
 miners in all respects. The funds of the Amalgamated Miners' Asso- 
 ciation are audited by persons appointed at the annual conference for 
 that purpose. 
 
 The Miners' Amalgamated Society is governed by a council 
 elected annually at the conference. In connexion with the Branch 
 Union, at Staveley, in Derbyshire, there is a co-operative store 
 established : this was done about twelve months ago, and it is work- 
 ing prosjserously ; selling all kinds of provisions, including meat. 
 The shareholders are about to erect a shop for the sale of the 
 provisions. I have recommended to the several trades' unions in 
 my district, that, when they have any funds in hand, they should not 
 put them into a bank, but that they should rather lend them out to 
 the several co-operative stores and building societies in their 
 neighbourhood : because, in the first place, they would obtain a better 
 rate of interest from such societies than from a bank ; and in the 
 second place, they would thus be promoting the success of institutions 
 which have a beneficial influence on the well-being of the operatives. 
 The prevalence of strikes is very much promoted by the sensual 
 condition of the working miners : and this degradation is brought 
 about to a very great degree by the system of employment under 
 
Miners. — English Miners. 303 
 
 ' Butties,' who require them to spend a large portioa of their earnings 
 in public-houses in which the Butties are interested. The low 
 condition of the miners' families is, also, to a great extent, brought 
 about by the employment of women on the banks of mines, who are 
 not only withdrawn from domestic duties, but are exposed to ctoarse 
 and immoral associations. The language used on these banks, not 
 merely in the presence of the women, but by the women themselves, 
 is most disgusting. The regulations enforced by the Butties among 
 the workmen of South Staffordshire include a contribution for what 
 is called ' foot ' ale and ' drink ' ale, which even men who are 
 members of teetotal societies are compelled to pay, though they 
 absolutely abstain ; and, when such men refuse to go to the public- 
 house to receive their wages, they are yet, notwithstanding that, 
 forced to contribute to a drunken spree which the rest of the men 
 indulge in on such occasions. The ' Butty ' and the ' Doggy ' receive 
 some countenance, in forcing this contribution on the sober men, 
 from the drunken men, -who submit to it more cheerfully. When 
 the men are turned out from the Saturday night's spree, at the 
 division of wages, I have myself seen, close to my own house and 
 shop, early on the Sunday morning, as many as six or eight battles 
 amctag the men infuriated by drink : that is quite a common thing at 
 all these places. The masters complain very much indeed of what 
 they call ' drunken Monday ;' but this drunkenness on Monday is, to 
 a very great extent indeed, the fault of the Butties and Doggies, 
 who endeavour to keep the men drinking from Saturday on, and over 
 part of Monday. If the men are inclined to go to work on the 
 Monday, the Butty men frequently come to the pit at eleven o'clock, 
 or one or two o'clock, and say ' Now, lads, knock off ; ' and many 
 men leave their work, and come out of the pit : and on such occasions, 
 when the men thus leave their work, it is called a ' build-house ' for 
 the first two hours and a half, and for these two hours and half they 
 get no wages. Then, if they work from six in the morning to eleven 
 or twelve o'clock in the morning, for that they receive only a 
 quarter ; and the general rule in Staffordshire is, that half a day is 
 accounted to be from six o'clock in the morning to two o'clock in 
 the afternoon, without any stoppage for meals ; and if men go down 
 to the pit on a Monday, they are not allowed to work excepting 
 under this rule ; — that is, they are required to work from six in the 
 morning to two o'clock in the afternoon, and they must not work 
 any longer ; and that is accounted half a day ; whereas a whole 
 day consists of work from six o'clock in the morning until six o'clock 
 in the evening, also without any dinner hour. A deputation from 
 the miners of the Willenhall district waited on the masters at Wol- 
 verhampton, about four months ago, to represent these grievances to 
 them, and the masters promised to remedy the complaints as to the 
 time ; but I am not aware that they have taken any steps to do so. — 
 There are, perhaps, 50,000 miners in the district in which the 
 Butty system exists." 
 
304 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 CHESHIRE AND LANCASHIRE SALTMAKERS AND 
 
 MINERS. 
 
 [Materials : — Answers by the Treasurer of the Association of the Lancashire and 
 Chqghire Saltmaliers and Miners to the questions concerning Trade Unions.] 
 
 This Association consists of from 900 to 1000 miners, and from 
 200 to 300 saltmakers. For ordinary purposes it is not connected 
 with any other society, but at present, for the special object of 
 improved legislation respecting mines, it is co-operating with the 
 miners of Scotland, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Northum- 
 berland, and Durham. It consists of branch societies. Once a fort- 
 night there is held a county meeting, to which each branch society 
 sends one delegate ; and twice a year there is a conference, to which 
 each branch society sends two or three delegates. No meetings are 
 held which are either secret or not open to all members of the Union, 
 and to reporters if they choose to attend. There are no rules but 
 those which are printed. One general agent is constantly employed 
 by the Association, at 4s. per diem {i. e. full wages), and the other 
 officers receive a slight remuneration.- A balance-sheet is issued 
 every month, and a copy supplied to each branch society. The 
 entrance money is 6d., and the fortnightly contribution Id. ; but 
 extra contributions are raised when required — at present Id. extra 
 per fortnight is being raised to defray the parliamentary expenses — 
 and in time of a strike the extra levy amounts to 2d. and 3d., or more. 
 It is. not the custom to keep a large accumulated fund. The cash in 
 hand at present is about £20. 
 
 As to the effect of the Association upon the skill of the workman, 
 it is stated that no test of efficiency is applied previous to the admis- 
 sion of a member, or in time of a strike. All hands are alike sup- 
 ported : but no aid is given to a man discharged for incompetence. 
 
 As to the effect upon the men themselves, this is stated to depend 
 upon the leaders for the time being of the Union, and also upon the 
 general character of the district. The sort of men chosen for leaders 
 is represented to have greatly improved during the last twenty years ; 
 they are no longer bitter or mischievous, as they used to be, but have 
 reasonable designs. At Ashton, Dukinfield, and Oldham, the men 
 are of steady habits, and the Society has been organized for twelve 
 years ; at St. Helens and Oldham, on the other hand, the men are 
 of a lower grade : ' drunken Monday,' with overwork for the rest of 
 the week, is a recognised custom, and the Union has been broken up 
 five or six times in the last few years. 
 
 As to the necessity of an association, it is stated that there are two 
 classes of masters, — one, those who are anxious to give fair wages to 
 their men, the other, those who will not do so until compelled ; also 
 that there is no instance of a general rise of wages without the inter- 
 ference of the Society. 
 
 Saltmakers and miners are paid both by the piece and by the day. 
 The rate of wages for piecework varies remarkably throughout the 
 district, according to the nature of the work which has to be done, 
 
Miners — English Miners. 305 
 
 the thickness of the mines, and other considerations ; but the custom 
 of the district is to regulate the piecework, upon the understanding 
 that the men who are working by the day shall receive 4*. per diem for 
 their work, and that the men who are working by the piece shall at 
 least be enabled, in the various kinds of work, to earn 4s. by k fair 
 day's work. But the firemen receive only 21s. per week ; and in 
 the neighbourhood of Bolton wages vary according to the circum- 
 stances, from 3s. to 3*. 6d. or 3*. 9d. per diem ; and where the 
 workmen are supplied, as they are on some estates, with cheap cot- 
 tages with land attached, the day wages are even as low as 2s. 6d. 
 per diem. " On one particular estate," says the treasurer, " in 
 which the day wages are 2s. 6d. per diem, the arrangements as to 
 the education of the children, the conveniences in the cottages and 
 gardens, the regulations as to the ventilation of the mines, and the 
 comforts of the miners are such, that I have frequently said, ' I had 
 rather work in such mines for 6d. a day less, than in other mines at 
 the ordinary rate.'" No objection is made by theAssociation to piece- 
 work ordinarily ; but it is otherwise with respect to the employment 
 of workmen as contractors for the getting of coal, because these gene- 
 rally employ inferior men at lower wages, and that has a tendency to 
 reduce the rate of wages for piecework. The men resist this prac- 
 tice by remonstrances of the Association to the masters, and it has 
 been a grievance which has from time to time caused great irritation 
 and misunderstanding, and has been among the causes leading to 
 strikes. 
 
 There is no general custom limiting the hours of labour, except 
 that in particular pits the men have applied to the masters to allow 
 them a half day on Saturday, such as is obtained in factories, and 
 this has been conceded. There is, however, some control exercised 
 as to the amount of work to be done in a single day. There is a 
 general understanding between the employer and the employed, that 
 a certain number of tubs of coal makes a day's work; the employer 
 expects each man to get as much, and the workmen do not like any 
 man to get more. If a man were to get more, his fellow-workmen 
 would remonstrate with the overlooker of the pit; if this failed, they 
 would probably appoint a deputation of two miners to wait on the 
 employer, and as a last resort (instances have occurred), they would 
 strike, until either the employer or the man submitted. In other 
 cases they would levy a fine upon the man of 6c?. for the extra quan- 
 tity of coal he had got. In some of the district lodges a rule has 
 existed, that a man should forfeit to the lodge all the extra wages 
 earned by extra work ; but it is doubtful whether such a rule any 
 longer exists. 
 
 There is in this trade an organization of masters, but this body 
 holds no communication with the men's Association. 
 
 A Lancashire coal master informs us that the leaders of the Union 
 are without one exception, bad workers and interested men, and 
 that they corrupt the apprentices. Also that he has found unionists 
 to be unsteady workmen, and to insist on the uniform wage. 
 
 X 
 
306 Jlisccllaneous Papers. 
 
 SCOTTISH MINERS. 
 
 [Materials : — Answers to the questions concerning Trades' Unions by the 
 Secretary to the Scottish Miners' Association ; Official Eeport on the Mining 
 Districts, 1856, by M r. Tremenheere.] 
 
 The Scottish Miners' Association was founded in 1852. Its original 
 object, as stated in its rules, was the protection of miners' rights and 
 privileges. This is explained to be the prevention of a reduction 
 , of wages by providing a fund for the support of men out of work, as 
 is the ordinary case with other trades' unions. Its objects, however, 
 are now expanding, and include, amongst other things, the estab- 
 lishment of co-operative stores to supersede truck shops, an improve- 
 ment in legislation "with respect to mines, the formation of a General 
 Insurance Society for miners, and the redress of several miscellaneous 
 grievances. The Association is composed of local societies, each 
 holding its own money, and remitting only what may be required to 
 cover the necessary expenses of the general Association. There is a 
 central executive consisting of three persons, which, when any cir- 
 cumstances render combined action necessary, summons a meeting of 
 the representatives of the local societies to a conference, and the 
 decisions of that conference guide the action of the whole Association. 
 The entrance money is 6c?., and the weekly contribution \d. As to 
 strikes, the rule (No. 4) is that " if at any time the work or work- 
 men therein find it necessary to strike for an advance of wages, or 
 from any other necessary cause, the district committee shall refer 
 the matter to a working arbitration. Should the masters refuse this, 
 the men to be supported till the matter is adjusted. Should the men 
 refuse it, they place themselves beyond the pale of the Associa- 
 tion." Any local society may separately strike for wages, provided 
 it makes no claim upon the general fund collected from the whole 
 Association, the application of the general fund being regulated only 
 by the conference ; the Society has no rule to prevent its members 
 working with non-unionists ; does not, as the Association thinks, " un- 
 fortunately," put any restriction on the hours of labour, nor does it fix 
 any minimum wage ; " wages vary according to the nature, quality, 
 and severity of the work." As to the restriction of the "day" or 
 amount of " get " in a day, which by Mr. Tremenheere is pronounced 
 to be the master-evil of Lanarkshire, it is stated that it was formerly 
 a common custom, and that it still prevails in a few collieries, but in 
 a few only, and that the Miners' Association steadily discountenances it. 
 Members are expelled from the Association if they commit an ofl^ence 
 against the law of the land. The Association has means of ascertain- 
 ing whether work is slack or brisk in different parts of the country, 
 through the columns of the Glasgow Sentinel. The meetings of the 
 Society used to be held in public-houses ; now places are preferred 
 near which no strong liquor is sold, and no person is permitted to 
 enter in a state of intoxication. The discussion takes place with 
 open doors, the representatives of the various papers are invited to 
 attend, and the proceedings are regularly reported in a newspaper 
 supported by the miners. 
 
Miners — Scottish Miners. 307 
 
 The miners appeal to the history of their ti-ade as the strongest 
 proof that without association a fair wage cannot be expected. " In 
 ray experience of thirty years in the mines," says their representa- 
 tive, " I am not aware in all the fluctuations, and in Scotland they 
 are very great, of more than three instances where a rise of wages 
 has been obtained, unless by men getting on the defensive." Their 
 first Union was organized in 1835, and in 1836 there was a rise 
 without a strike. In 1837 a reduction was made from 5s. to 4s. 
 per diem ; a strike took place, but new hands were imported, and 
 the Society was extinguished. From 1837-1842 there was no 
 society, the prices of iron and coal were nearly double what they 
 are now, wages were reduced to 2s. Qd. per diem, and even to Is. Sd. 
 In 1842, wages being still very low, the Society was re-organized, 
 and the men applied to the masters to refer the rate of wages to the 
 arbitration of the Commissioners of Supply for the county of Lanark- 
 shire ; the masters declined, the men then reluctantly struck, and 
 the result was a rise from Is. to Is. 6d. per diem of wages all over the 
 country. From 1842-1844 the wages held good, times were pros- 
 perous, and the men, thinking there was no need of a society, ceased 
 to support it. In 1844 wages fell, and the Society was revived; 
 wages then rose, and for three years they kept high, and the Society, 
 as before, was left to decline. The representative of the miners goes 
 on to say that from 1847 to 1850 wages remained low, and were only 
 restored in 1850 by an agitation on the part of the men, and that 
 since then they have remained high. He omits however any reference 
 to the great strike of 1 847, mentioned by Mr. Tremenheere, in which 
 the men, after standing out fourteen weeks for 5s. a day, accepted the 
 masters' terms of 3s. a day, which in a few weeks were reduced to 
 2s. a day. And though he refers to the strike of 1856 to prove the 
 absence of intimidation, he abstains from allusion to its causes or 
 result. These, according to Mr. Tremenheere, were as follows : " In 
 November, 1855, the men forced the masters into granting an ad- 
 vance of from 4s. to 5s. a day. Many of the masters, since they 
 could not afford to continue that rate, before long felt obliged to take 
 their stand against it, and to reduce the rate again to 4s. A strike 
 took place : it became general throughout the districts concerned at 
 the beginning of March, and after from 30,000 to 40,000 men had 
 been idle for sixteen weeks, and had inflicted enormous loss upon 
 their masters and the public, and great sufiering upon themselves 
 and their families, the event proved that they were again wrong, 
 for they resumed work at their masters' terms." 
 
 As a proof that the Association promotes the efficiency of work- 
 men, it is stated that under the regulations of the Association, no lad 
 is permitted to enter the trade unless he put himself for a twelve- 
 month under the direction of a skilled workman. Where these 
 regulations are observed, as in the counties of Clackmannan, 
 Fife, Mid- and East-Lothian, and in some parts of Ayrshire, a 
 sensible diminution of accidents has followed. In Lanarkshire, 
 Eenfrewshire, Linlithgowshire, and a considerable part of Ayrshire, 
 
 x2 
 
308 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 where these regulations cannot be enforced, accidents are more' 
 frequent. 
 
 With regard to the effect of the Association upon the moral cha- 
 racter of the workmen, it is stated that no " picketing of pits " is 
 allowed, nor are weekly "black lists" published, and that any warnings 
 against individuals supposed to be hostile to the Association, that 
 may be made at any public meeting, are not made with the sanction 
 of the executive ; and generally that the tendency of the trades' 
 association is more and more to adopt moral expedients, and so far 
 from resorting to any form of physical force and intimidation, to 
 repudiate it. The secretary of the Association would be the first 
 person to give notice to the police, if he suspected that any 
 overt act of violence was likely to take place, and he has frequent ap- 
 plications from the police, when at any time they are anxious to ascer- 
 tain the accuracy of reports which may be afloat with respect to 
 dangers of this description. Acts of violence during strikes have 
 become much rarer of late; and in particular during the strike in 1856, 
 when 30,000 men were out of employ, no one was imprisoned for vio- 
 lence or intimidation. The result of this moderation on the part of the 
 men has shown itself in a corresponding feeling on the part of the mas- 
 ters, who as a rule, after a strike is over, bear no malice, and abstain 
 from, what was formerly a common practice, the issuing of a warning 
 to their neighbours not in future to employ those who had con- 
 ducted or taken part in the strike. 
 
 Mr. Tremenheere, in speaking of the colliers four years ago, gives 
 a very different account. He states that, in the strike of 1856, a new 
 and serious feature presented itself, viz. the exercise of intimidation 
 on a large scale, yet in such a manner as to escape the letter of the 
 law. " In many instances," he says, "the tactics of the men on strike 
 were to assemble suddenly in large numbers befoi'e some large colliery 
 some miles distant from their own, at the time when the colliers 
 were going to work, and placing themselves across their path, either 
 to obstruct the way altogether, or to ask the men in a civil and 
 friendly tone 'whether they were not going to attend the colliers' 
 meeting on that day ? ' or some other equally simple question, in 
 neither case using anyactualviolence,norevenmenacing expressions." 
 This "passive intimidation" was applied to prevent not only men 
 who were ready to work at the reduced wages, but those who were 
 working at the full wages demanded by the Union, and he attributes 
 this conduct to the greater completeness of the organization of the 
 men. He also speaks of the demoralization which is found to follow 
 any considerable strike. 
 
 The special grievances of which miners complain are as follows : 
 
 1. The law of master and servant. 
 
 2. IE. education of children. 
 
 3. The absence of a fair system of weighSig. 
 
 4. Ill ventilation of mines, 
 
 5. The improper carrying out of the clause in the Truck Act 
 legalizing deductions from wages. 
 
 6. Truck. 
 
Miners — Scottish Miners. 309 
 
 . Miners express themselves dissatisfied that their obligation to 
 their employer should be enforced by imprisonment, whilst his 
 obligation to them is enforced only by damages, and too frequently 
 the magistrate on the bench who decides these questions is himself 
 a colliery owner. 
 
 Education, they think, should be made compulsory ; children 
 should not be entrusted with responsible duties unless they have 
 attended school. Ignorant miners are found to be reckless and 
 dangerous miners. 
 
 Miners are paid by piecework, so much for every tub of material 
 they send up ; the tub to be of full weight and proper quality, other- 
 wise the payment for it is either reduced, or forfeited altogether, 
 according to the law of the particular colliery. In most collieries, 
 the banksman, the servant of the coal-owner, who stands at the 
 head of the pit, is sole judge of both weight and quality. It is easy 
 to see how under such a system, however fairly carried out, dissatis- 
 faction arises. The paper before me states " We may go down and 
 put up what we believe to be a good day's work, and at the end not 
 have a pennyworth of wage, the whole having been condemned in 
 the view by the middleman (or banksman) : this same material, so 
 condemned, may be afterwards sold to the public, and the profit taken 
 by our employer." On this subject the following paper has been 
 brought under the attention of the House of Commons : 
 "MINES' INSPECTION BILL. 
 "a fair ststbm: of weighing. 
 
 " The following statements, from a few of the best-regulated Col- 
 lieries, show, as we think, the necessity of ' A Fair System of Weigh- 
 ing the Miners' Material' being made compulsory by Legislative 
 Enactment, viz. — 
 
 WOMBWELL MAIN COLLIERY, YORKSHIRE. 
 
 A Correct Account of the Actual Weight of Coals got and sent out 
 of the above Colliery by Six steady Working Colliers, in the Fort- 
 night ending April 11th, I860. Also, showing the Weight paid for, 
 and the Loss to the Workmen, by the present system. These men 
 send Twenty-one to the Score, and Twenty-one Hundredweight to 
 the Ton. 
 
 Tubs s«nt. 
 (lOi cwt. each.) Tubs paid for. Tubs not paid for. 
 
 Sampson Ellis 196 186 10 or 105 cwt. 
 
 H. Addams 239 230 ... 
 
 Thos. Briggs 211 210 .. 
 
 Michael Sictebottom... 239 228 .. 
 
 M. LiTTLEwooD 216 207 .. 
 
 J. Shires 234 225 ... 
 
 Showing a loss to the above six working men, at the above colliery, 
 to be in the aggregate 20 tons, 10 J cwt., which, at \s. 2d. per ton, 
 amounts to £1 Is. 3d., or 4s. 6Jrf. per man, for the fortnight. 
 
 " The following case of a colliery where the men forfeited, or had 
 tubs condemned, is from Woodhall Colliery, in the county of Lanark. 
 
 9 " 
 
 96 
 
 10 " 
 
 105 
 
 11 " 
 
 115^ 
 
 9 " 
 
 94J 
 
 9 " 
 
 94J 
 
310 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 We may state tliat tlie undernoted is only a tithe of what might have 
 been stated had the whole of the men been allowed to make a state- 
 ment. The term used by the middleman or pithead man is, the hutch 
 or tub is ' hanged' ; and so it is, as the miner gets nothing for such 
 hutches or tubs. 
 
 " Petee Stevenson, miner, Woodhall, says — ' On the 28th of 
 March, 1850, two of my hutches were hanged.' Hugh Blackbtjen 
 says — 'On the 10th of March, two of my hutches were hanged.' 
 John Hu.iie says — ' On the 9th of March, I lost, or had hange^ six 
 hutches (a whole day's work.)' ' From the 18th of February to the 
 18th of March,' says Colin Burnb, ' I had six hutches hanged.' 
 ' On the 9th of March,' says James Jauvie, ' I lost, or had hanged, 
 two hutches.' ' On Monday, the 12th of March,' says William 
 ■Hamilton, ' I had three hutches hanged.' John Little says — 
 ' During my last fourteen days' pay, I lost five hutches, and this one 
 I am to lose four, or that is what is already hanged.' John Stewaet 
 says — ' Three years ago, in this colliery, I lost, or had hanged, 14s. 
 6d. worth of coals in three weeks, and, because I said it was a shame, 
 I was discharged." ' 
 
 This evil admits of an obvious remedy : the weight can at all times 
 be ascertained exactly, by the simple process of erecting a steelyard 
 on the pithead, and weighing every hutch. This, states Mr. Tremen- 
 heere, is common in Fifeshire and the Lothians, and is practicable 
 in all cases. The quality cannot be subjected to so sure a test, but 
 in many collieries the miners are represented at the pithead by a 
 man, whom they pay and whom they call their justice-man, and 
 whose duty is to check the proceedings of the banksman. The 
 petition to Parliament includes a prayer that this practice should be 
 made imperative in all collieries. 
 
 Mr. Tremenheere refers to this grievance of the miners, but chiefly 
 with a view to show that it is rather a fictitious than a real one. He 
 gives instances of collieries where the judgment of the banksman has 
 been found to be more lenient towards the men than the rigid accu- 
 racy of the scales. He states also that in nearly every case where 
 they require it, the miners are allowed at their own expense to have 
 a "justice-man:" but that they rarely continue one long in their em- 
 ploy, finding the institution a useless expense. 
 
 The miners also complain of the ill ventilation of their mines, and 
 allege that this defect arises from two causes; one, the ignorance of 
 the principles of ventilation on the part of those who manage the 
 mines ; the other, the parsimony of the employers. 
 
 Another complaint is, that the deductions from their wages for 
 medical attendance, sharpening of tools, schooling, &c., are not satis- 
 factorily expended. The men have no control over the choice of the 
 medical attendant, of the blacksmith, or the teacher, and sometimes 
 persons incompetent and objectionable are appointed. This is espe- 
 cially the case with Eoman Catholic miners. The master, a Protestant, 
 appoints a Protestant teacher ; the men, if they wish to send their 
 children to a Catholic school, have to pay over again. Further, the 
 
Miners — Scottish Miners. 311 
 
 funds i-aiaed by the deductions from wages are not always properly 
 accounted for. An instance is given (and like cases are stated to be 
 not uncommon among the iron masters of Lanarkshire and Ayrshire), 
 where these deductions for schooling amounted to £303, and the 
 sums actually expended only to £115, the balance, £188, being 
 appropriated by the firm. 
 
 The last, and chief complaint is the maintenance of the truck 
 system. The representative of the Miners' Association states as 
 follows : — " Of the mining counties in Scotland, there is in Clack- 
 mannan no truck shop ; in Mid- and East-Lothian one ; in Fifeshire 
 three ; in Stirlingshire a few ; in Renfrewshire they are beginning 
 to be established ; in Linlithgowshire there is a truck shop to 
 nearly every colliery. The truck shops provide all articles of sub- 
 sistence and clothing, with one exception, drink. The Truck Act 
 renders it necessary for the masters to have a separate pay-office. 
 But this office they take care shaU be close to the truck shop, some- 
 times it is separated only by a partition. They pay the men at the 
 long interval of a fortnight, or even of a month, and in the meantime 
 allow them upon application subsistence money from day to day, or 
 even on the half-day. This subsistence money, the miner is prac- 
 tically compelled, by penalties, to carry to the truck shop ; for if not, 
 the subsistence allowance is stopped, and he must wait for his pay till 
 the end of the fortnight or month ; or he is shifted to a less favourable 
 part of the mine, or he is altogether dismissed. Dismissal has indeed 
 become more common under the new system of employment, which 
 has substituted for a contract of fourteen days, a contract terminable 
 at a day's notice. To such an extent is truck carried, that even if the 
 truck shop has not in store the articles required, the miner is not 
 supplied with cash, which he might lay out where he would, but 
 with tokens which certain shopkeepers in the town will recognise, 
 and on receiving them supply articles, to the extent of the value of 
 the tokens. These tokens however have afterwards to be returned 
 by the shopkeepers to the truck shoj) to be exchanged into cash, 
 and the rate of exchange is a deduction of 3s. in every 20«. in favour 
 of the truck shop. This loss, amounting to 15 per cent., the shop- 
 keeper has of course taken care has already fallen upon the miner." 
 Single men are said to be able to escape this system, because they 
 need less subsistence money, and can live the next month upon their 
 savings of the present month ; but men with families are the victims ; 
 in certain collieries, at duU periods of the year, many men are 
 described as not seeing Her Majesty's coin of the realm for weeks 
 together, and the Truck Act as altogether set aside. 
 
 It is further stated that the masters have a common fund to resist 
 the action of the miners' Association, and especially to defend indivi- 
 dual masters in all prosecutions for breaches of the Truck Act, or 
 for other offijnces against the laws regulating the management of 
 mines. 
 
 These prosecutions occur almost weekly in Scotland, and hitherto 
 have aggravated the evil they are intended to diminish ; for one effisct 
 
312 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 of them is that the masters who own truck shops keep fewer hands 
 to manage them, and this in practice produces demoralizing habits 
 among the men. " Week after week," it is stated, " in all these 
 large truck shops, you will find at one o'clock in the morning, at 
 two, at three, and from that on, persons surrounding the shop door, 
 the old worn-out stager, and the child of tender years, all huddling 
 together, waiting till that store door opens ; for, to be served at all, 
 it is necessary to take up one's turn at that early hour." 
 
 On the other hand, Mr. Tremenheere in his report of the state of 
 the mines in 1856, says " the truck system has again been denounced 
 by the delegates, and represented as a gi'ievanee ;" — language that 
 leaves the impression that in his opinion there was not much real 
 suffering arising therefrom. And generally his inquiries have led 
 him to adopt views entirely opposed to those upheld by the Mining 
 Association. " Questions of wages and any alleged grievance that 
 may at the moment occupy the thoughts of the workpeople are," he 
 writes, " always best settled by the workmen and their employers 
 without the intervention of delegates or any other extraneous inter- 
 ference." And he gives the instance of the successful operation for 
 thirty years of a society based on opposite principles, viz. the Govan 
 Colliery Friendly and Free Labour Society, founded by Mr. Dixon 
 in 1826, the rules of which every one of his colliers, in number (in 
 1856) 310, is required to subscribe.* 
 
 A few particulars of this Society may here be given. The pre- 
 amble of these rules states that " The workmen of Govan Colliery, 
 deeply impressed with a sense of the evil effects of combination to 
 restrict free labour, have resolved to form themselves into a 
 friendly and free-labour society, for the purpose of supporting each 
 other when visited by sickness or accident, and for their legal and 
 individual interests." The third rule is, " that no collier or other 
 person employed shall interfere in any manner of way with the em- 
 ployer's just right of employing, retaining, and discharging such 
 workmen as may be considered proper, or with a workman's right of 
 working and engaging to work in the way, upon the terms, and with 
 whom he may think best for the interest of himself and family." 
 
 The Society, together with a funeral fund, and a school fund, 
 subscription to which is compulsory, and a library and reading-room, 
 is managed by a master couVt, consisting of a president, treasurer, 
 clerk, and thirteen managers, of whom three are named by the owner 
 of the colliery. .The Society seems to be most successful, and the 
 owner of the colliery liberal and considerate. 
 
 With regard to strikes, Mr. Tremenheere adopts the classification 
 given him by the employers, that one-third of the miners are steady 
 
 * Since this paper was wiitten, information has been received that in the early- 
 part of the present year the operatives of the Govan Colliery Friendly and Free 
 Labour Society struck. No particulars however have come to hand, but that an 
 object of the strike was to procure the same rate of wages as that paid at a neigh- 
 bouring colliery. 
 
Miners — Scotch Miners. 313 
 
 men opposed to strikes ; one-third, ignorant disorderly men who are 
 always most ready to believe that they are unfairly dealt with by 
 their employers, and to follow any extreme course that agitators and 
 delegates may suggest ; and the remaining third, men who are not 
 dissatisfied with their employers, but who from want of moral corn-age 
 allow themselves to be banded together by the delegates or leaders, 
 and mixed up in every action of hostility against their masters, and in 
 every transgression of the law, with the worst portion of their fellow- 
 workmen. He contrasts the strikes in Lanarkshire and Ayrshire 
 with the refusal of the miners in Fifeshire, Alloa, Clackmannan, and 
 the Lothians to join in them, and assigns as the cause of the indis- 
 position to strikes " the fact that society is older and more settled in the 
 latter named districts than in the former, that the proportion of igno- 
 rant and turbulent characters is less, that a large number of the col- 
 lieries are or have been worked by the proprietors themselves, who 
 have looked more closely into everything which afiects the condition, 
 or influences the feelings of the workpeople, and placed these matters 
 upon a more satisfactory footing." 
 
 Mr. Tremenheere also has no doubt upon which side the rights of 
 these disputed questions lie. Of the masters he says, "Notwithstanding 
 the language in which interested men, who assume to speak for their 
 class as delegates, indulge in regard to the employers generally in 
 that part of the country, there are among these employers, as I will- 
 ingly testify from having been conversant with these districts for 
 upwards of thirteen years, gentlemen who have as accurate a know- 
 ledge of the real condition and feelings of the workmen, and as 
 sincere a desire to deal justly by them, and to benefit them, as are to 
 be found in any part of the kingdom." And again : " I am aware 
 that it is only with much caution and reservation that it can be be- 
 coming in me to oiFer any suggestion to gentlemen of the ability, 
 experience, and good intentions of those who preside over the great 
 industrial establishments in question." And of the leaders of the 
 Association he writes, " Unfortunately, as matters have hitherto been, 
 the moment these questions arise they are seized upon by delegates 
 or agitators, who are neither the best disposed, the most temperate, 
 nor the most enlightened of the class to which they belong, and whose 
 direct interest it is to aggravate every existing cause of dispute, and 
 to bring forward as many others as can be made available." And 
 again he says that " the masters very naturally refuse to submit their 
 case to the kind of men usually acting as delegates :" and he speaks of 
 " a delivery of the well-disposed and the intelligent among the workmen 
 from the thraldom so often imposed upon them, against their better 
 judgments, by the ignorant, the rash, and the malevolent;" and of 
 the present Miners' Association, then about to be established, as " an 
 organization among a certain class of the men under the guidance of 
 their delegates, which will be fruitful in future strikes." And after 
 quoting at length the four first rules of the Association, which in 
 substance have been given above, he closes his report in the following 
 words : — 
 
314 Miscellaneous Papers, 
 
 " This proposed Association, holding out, by the subsequent clauses, 
 certain supposed benefits of a Friendly Association to those who 
 may join it, aims at regulating the proceedings of aU the collieries 
 in Scotland in regard to wages and all other matters that are in- 
 volved between the workmen and their masters, through the inter- 
 vention of a Committee of Delegates. They will in all probability 
 not succeed, but the circumstance of such a combination being under 
 consideration points out to the employers generally how desirable it 
 would be that the example of the admirable 'Friendly and Free 
 Labour Association' of Mr. Dixon's works should be extensively 
 copied, and the power of regulating all these points kept in the hands 
 of the men and the masters of each work, without any extraneous 
 interference, which aggravates instead of allaying disputes and 
 difficulties." 
 
 Without attempting to balance the evidence of the representative of 
 the ScottishMiners' Association against the official report of the Com- 
 missioner, the following reasons are submitted why the report of 
 Mr. Tremenheere may not be considered as finally disposing of 
 these questions. 
 
 Judging from the Report itself, his opinion not only agrees with 
 that of the masters, but is expressly stated to be based upon informa- 
 tion derived from them, and apparently from them alone, Nowhere 
 is any evidence, coming from the other side, the miners, quoted or even 
 referred to. I have no evidence before me, except the answers given 
 in behalf of the Miners' Association, to make me believe that Mr. 
 Tremenheere's opinion as to the interested and inflammatory conduct 
 of the delegates is otherwise than correct. But in a case like this, 
 dealt with by a commissioner speaking with authority, it Avould be 
 more satisfactory if charges of this nature, which in almost every 
 trade are made by the masters, and in so many trades have turned 
 out to be baseless, were not repeated in general terms, but substan- 
 tiated by some evidence, either as to the profits actually made by 
 delegates out of strikes, or as to particular instances of ascertained 
 misconduct. A single point however may be alluded to : Mr. 
 Tremenheere points out one very serious consequence which 
 immediately arises from a combination organized by delegates, viz., 
 that the question of wages is generalized for the whole district : 
 whereas it is essentially a question for each individual master to de- 
 termine according to existing circumstances. " A low rate of royal- 
 ties and easy working of his minerals, facilities of communication, 
 judgment in the original arrangement of his works, and favourable 
 contracts, may make it the interest of one master to give a rate of 
 wages which at the time might be ruinous to another. All these in- 
 dividual differences disappear the moment these questions get into 
 the hands of paid delegates." It is possible that this may be the 
 case with paid delegates in Scotland, but it is not, as would be the 
 inference from this paper, necessarily so: it is not so in England, as 
 appears from the following extract from a letter dated February 22nd, 
 
Iron Founders of England, Ireland, and Wales. 315 
 
 1860, addressed by the secretary on behalf of the Stainsbro' coal 
 miners, to a proprietor whose men were then on strike. 
 
 " You say that you pay up to Messrs. C. or Mrs. C, and we say 
 that you do not pay up to P., so one argument is as good as another. 
 The prices at one coUiery won't do at every other colliery ; to assimi- 
 late prices is, of course, impossible, else we should, of course, insist 
 that P.'s prices were paid to us, but we have not asked for them, and 
 considering the difficulties that there are to contend with at your 
 works that do not exist at Messrs. C.'s collieries, if you give us the 
 advance we shall only be paid up to them." 
 
 But further, even if all the charges against the delegates were fully 
 proved, the inference might well be, not that trades' unions were alto- 
 gether hurtful, but that having been misguided, they should seek for 
 better leaders. Bad leaders are not always the sign of a bad cause. 
 In like manner, the instance cited by Mr. Tremenheere, of the success 
 of a society based on principles the opposite of those pursued by trades' 
 unions (a society, by the way, consisting of no more than 380 mem- 
 bers) does not prove that trades' unions are wrong in principle. For 
 it is not disputed that without any society at all, whether a trade 
 union or a society like the G-ovan Colliery Friendly and Free Labour 
 Society, all masters could, and some individual masters would, deal 
 fairly and satisfactorily with their men. The question is whether coal 
 and iron masters as a class may be taken to be of the same liberal and 
 trustworthy character as Mr. Dixon, or whether in the majority of 
 cases trades' unions are required to keep masters in check ? Lastly, 
 the allegations made by the miners, if false, admit of disproof. At 
 first sight they do not seem to be without some foundation. As to 
 truck, one of the tokens, such as are said to be used to carry on 
 the system in its worst phase, was produced at a meeting of the trades' 
 committee of this society in London; and as to the necessity of a fair 
 system of weighing, if it be true, as stated by Mr. Tremenheere, that 
 "in nearly every instance" where the men require a justice-man to 
 be placed at the head of the pit at their own expense, this " reasonable 
 concession" is granted, it is rather remarkable that the 8000 miners 
 belonging to the Scottish Miners' Association, as well as other miners 
 both in England and Ireland, should think it worth while to request 
 Parliament to make this " concession " imperative. 
 
 lEON FOUNDERS OF ENGLAND, IRELAND, AND 
 
 WALES. 
 
 [Materials : — Rules of the Auxiliary Fund of the Friendly Society of Iron 
 Founders ; Thirty-eighth Monthly Report of the same Society, dated September 5th, 
 1857 ; Answers to the questions submitted to Employers of Labour by an employer 
 In Blackburn and an employer in Sunderland ; Answers to the questions con- 
 cerning Trades' Unions by an operative.] 
 
 The Iron Founders of England, Ireland and Wales are amalga- 
 mated into a Society comprising about seventy branches, and between 
 six and seven thousand members. The average weekly expenditure 
 
316 3Iiscellaneous Papers. 
 
 on unemployed members, i.e., by way of donation to members and 
 travellers, is nearly £150. There is also a sick fund attached to the 
 Society. 
 
 The Auxiliary Fund is expressed to be established for the relief 
 of members in case of oppression, and the rules for its application 
 are as follows : — 
 
 " That should an attempt be made unnecessarily to reduce the wages 
 of any of the members, or to increase their hours of labour unjustly, 
 stop their wages, impose an unreasonable amount of work, introduce 
 a superiluous number of boys, or by any other grievance oppress 
 them ; they must, in the first place, solicit their employer or fore- 
 man for relief from such grievance, and if the result of such appli- 
 cation be unfavourable, the said member or members shall then apply 
 to the president or secretaiy of their branch, who shall call a com- 
 mittee or general meeting to inquire into the case. 
 
 " That in no case whatever shall the member or members working 
 under such employer have a vote or voice any further than in giving 
 evidence on the case of such grievance. [The Society of Iron 
 Founders is, so far as I know, the only society where this rule 
 exists.] 
 
 " That the meeting shall have full power to send delegates, if neces- 
 sary, to settle the business ; when, if the matter cannot be amicably 
 settled, the secretary of the branch where the grievance takes place 
 shall then write to the corresponding secretary, and acquaint him 
 with all the particulars of the case ; and this correspondence shall 
 be signed by the president and referee, or shall not be considered 
 legal. The corresponding secretary shall immediately lay the same 
 before the executive committee. The executive committee shall 
 immediately send delegates to investigate the grievance, if they 
 consider the case demands a delegation; and should they from the 
 report received from their delegates, consider such complaint well 
 founded, they shall have full power to allow the relief as prescribed 
 in the laws of the Society, after the men have given legal notice to 
 their employers. But no relief shall be allowed except in case of 
 extreme necessity, and the executive committee shall have full 
 power to re-open any foundry that has been closed against the mem- 
 bers, when they find or think it necessary. 
 
 " That should the members of any branch or foundry leave their 
 employment without having first obtained the sanction of the execu- 
 tive committee, such members shall not be entitled to the allowance 
 provided in cases of oppression, except in cases where the employer 
 forces such terms upon members as they are bound not to accept, 
 and where consequently they have to leave for non-compliance. 
 
 " That no members shall be entitled to the benefit of the auxiliary 
 fund for the stoppage of wages, unless they have taken a legal 
 course to obtain such wages. 
 
 " That the auxiliary fund shall not be applied for any other purposes 
 than those specified, except to preserve a reasonable advance of wages 
 in a low paid district. 
 
Iron Founders of England, Ireland, and Wales. 317 
 
 " That the allowances to members oppressed shall he 
 
 To a man 10«. i 
 
 To a wife 2s. > per week for four weeks. 
 
 For each child ... \s.) 
 
 " That after four weeks, if the oppression, still continues, the allow- 
 ances for the wife or children shall continue for eight weeks longer, 
 and the member shall receive such donative allowance (from the 
 General Fund) as the date of his entrance entitles him to. 
 
 " In all cases these benefits cease upon the members obtaining work. 
 
 " That when a case of oppression takes place in any branch, the 
 secretary of such branch shall, once a month, send a full return of 
 the amount of income and expenditure, and to whom, and for what 
 paid, with the number of members on the Auxiliary Benefit, their 
 wives and children, and all other necessary information to the corres- 
 ponding secretary : and the corresponding secretary shall, for the 
 information of the members, publish a yearly Report * of the income 
 and expenditure caused by such grievance, and the results of the same, 
 and the date thereof, and forward a copy of the same to every mem- 
 ber of the Society. 
 
 " That should the Auxiliary Fund be exhausted, the Executive 
 Committee shall have power to order an equal levy on all members 
 in work, for the purpose of meeting its demands. 
 
 " That should the members of any foundry have occasion to leave 
 their employer through an act of oppression, no other member of this 
 Society shall be allowed to commence work in the said foundry while 
 such oppression exists : and further, that should any member have to 
 leave his employment through an act of oppression, no member of 
 this Society shall be allowed to work in his place while such oppres- 
 sion exists : and no other member working in the same foundry 
 shall be allowed to work at the same job, and therefore, upon refusing, 
 shall be entitled to the same allowance as the first who had to leave. 
 And any member violating this law, shall be fined, or expelled, at 
 the decision of the executive committee. 
 
 " That no member shall be allowed to apply for work at any 
 
 * The semi-annual reports, to which allusion is here probably made, as two of 
 them appear sometimes to be issued together, contain all the separate accounts of the 
 year or half-year of each of the branches, and very full statistical information as 
 to the number of members, &c. There is also a very carefully drawn up table of 
 deaths for the year of members and their wives, with the diseases scientifically de- 
 scribed, evidently by a medical man, and their ages. If all large trade societies 
 would keep a similar record, it would assist scientific men in estimating the rela- 
 tive healthiness of different trades, and the peculiar diseases generated by dif- 
 ferent occupations. There are also very full tables of the voting of all the branches 
 upon any propositions which may have been made. There exists also apparently 
 a system, for which no provision appears in the rules, which enables a man going 
 to another town to borrow his railway fare from one branch, and to pay it in to 
 the branch of the town he is going to. The branch lending, and the branch receiv- 
 ing, each send the amount to the central authority, and it is published in the 
 report. There is also a history of the disputes with employers since the last report, 
 and an account of how they were settled. 
 
318 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 foundry where he knows that a grievance exists, directly or indi- 
 rectly, without the sanction of the branch, or the executive com- 
 mittee, under a penalty of os. for each offence." 
 
 The result of each set of answers is given separately, because it is 
 not clear that they relate to the same kind of work, or else the 
 condition of trade varies veiy considerably in different places. 
 
 The Blackburn Iron Founder states that about fifty per cent, of 
 his moulders are united, and nearly all his smiths, and all his 
 mechanics : that his men are paid weekly, and partly by the piece, 
 partly by the day : that the wages of the moulders are from Z2s. to 
 34s. per week ; of the smiths, 26s. to 21s. ; and, of the mechanics, 
 from 24«. to 28«. : that the unionists are generally, but not exclusively, 
 of the more highly paid and skilled classes, and comprise in almost 
 equal numbers the good and bad workmen of these classes : but that 
 as a rule, the cleverer the workman, the less respect he has for the 
 Union and vice versa : and that the non-unionists are, as a class, 
 more steady. As an employer, he has been fettered in employing 
 non-unionists, and at one time, though he is now no longer, fettered in 
 introducing piecework. There is an apprenticeship in the machine 
 trade : the lad must not be under fourteen or over sixteen years of 
 age, and he is bound by indenture till twenty-one. His wages begin 
 at 4s. per week, and rise every year Is. per week, till he is nineteen, 
 and then they rise 2s. per week until he is twenty-one. Thus, at 
 nineteen he receives 12*. per week. The proportion of apprentices is 
 limited to one to every four journeymen, — a rule which is found very 
 inconvenient, especially in slack times, when many journeymen fall out 
 of employ. These often grumble at the work being done by the appren- 
 tices, and in one case, struck. The employer states, that in his 
 opinion " the minds of apprentices are very much worked upon by 
 the men, especially by those of the Union, and that a quick clever 
 boy is often hindered, both as to the quantity and quality of the work 
 he performs, by journeymen who fear to he ousted out of their 
 places. For the same reason, men advise their fellows to restrict 
 the quantity of the work done in a day." 
 
 The employer further states that unions have in many cases un- 
 warrantably increased the rate of wages. There has been no strike 
 in the trade for a long time. 
 
 The Sunderland manufacturer of pig and wrought iron states that 
 there is scarcely any union among the men whom he employs ; that 
 there is no instance of a systematic and organized strike throughout 
 the district, but that, when business fluctuates, there is nearly always a 
 strike of small numbers, or of particular districts, either from masters 
 refusing the demands of the men, or vice versa. There being no 
 strong union, there is no regular strike fund ; what is collected is 
 seldom equitably distributed, and the men for the time mostly subsist 
 by begging. The general result of strikes is invariably in favour of 
 the masters, though some slight concession has usually to be made. 
 
 The unionists are described as noisy talkative fellows of the skilled 
 
Iron Founders of England, Ireland, and Wales. 319 
 
 classes, -who -will do anything but -work. Wages are paid fortnightly 
 at the rate of from £2 to f 5 per week.* There is no apprentice- 
 ship : the work requiring strength and endurance, rather than skill. 
 The unions are stated to have had a tendency to keep up wages. 
 Subjoined are the rules printed on the back of every pay ticket. 
 
 " BEGUL.VTIOXS TO BE OBSERVED BY THE WORKMEN EMPLOYED 
 AT THE IRON WORKS. 
 
 " 1. No one shall absent himself from work at the time appointed by 
 his employers, without the consent of his foreman, or the production 
 of a medical certificate. 
 
 "2. Any one leaving the service of the company, must give fourteen 
 days' notice on a pay-day, or forfeit all wages due to him. The same 
 notice or a fortnight's labourers' wages will be given by the Com- 
 pany, except in cases of culpable neglect or misconduct. 
 
 " 3. Any one damaging the machinery or property ; wasting 
 materials either through carelessness or design ; neglecting his 
 instructions, and using materials difiering either in quantity or quality 
 from those ordered ; using disrespectful language to his superiors ; 
 being drunk or disorderly ; will be fined one pound, or summarily 
 dismissed the service, and forfeit aU money due to him. 
 
 " 4. No one shall bring any strangers into the works, or talk to 
 such as may come in. Every one shall apply for and put in his own 
 time-board, or subject himself to a fine of five shillings. 
 
 " 5. Men employing others under them must in every case obtain 
 the sanction of the foreman. Those so employed to be subject to all 
 the rules and regulations of the works ; the men employing them being 
 held responsible by the Company for any fines or penalties they may 
 incur. 
 
 " 6. Every one must present his own pay ticket, and no complaint 
 will be attended to after the money is taken from the window. Men 
 leaving will receive their money on the Monday following the pay. 
 
 " The men will likewise be required to submit to such other rules 
 and regulations as may from time to time become necessary, the 
 posting of such in prominent situations in the works being deemed 
 sufficient notice. 
 
 " The masters, in making known these regulations, signify their 
 intention of seeing them enforced. They reserve to themselves the 
 right of increasing the fines on offences being repeated, and shall 
 also in extreme cases apply for the assistance of the magistrates. 
 
 " September, 1858. By Oedee of the Company." 
 
 The operative belonging to the iron trade states that the con- 
 dition of admission into the Society is a regular apprenticeship of 
 five years, or previous work for five years' as a journeyman and a good 
 character : that the Society does not directly insist upon equal 
 wages being paid to all members employed on the same work in the 
 
 * Piecework is the iimversal rule of the trade ; even enginemen, firemen, and 
 mechanics being often paid upon the iron produced. 
 
320 Miscellaneous Papers, 
 
 same shop : that tlie question of wages is left for the master and 
 workman to settle between themselves, but that there is in the 
 workman the same feeling not to work below a certain price, as 
 there is in the employer not to pay above a certain price : and that 
 good workmen do not like to see their inferiors paid as well as 
 themselves. 
 
 BOOTMAKEES. 
 
 [Materials : — Rules of London Masters' Association; Full Account by a Master 
 
 of a Strike in B , against a particular Shop, against the Use of Machinery ; 
 
 a few advertisements, &c.; an Address by a London Employer to the Men in 
 his Employ.] 
 
 In 1838, there seems to have been a general strike in the boot 
 trade, which led to an organization of the Master Boot and Shoe- 
 makers' Society, that overpowered, and for the time almost extin- 
 guished, the Union of the operatives. 
 
 In 1854, there was again a strike in the City and West-end of 
 London, and the masters' society was once more called into activity, 
 and with success. 
 
 A new Union was then formed amongst the operatives, but only 
 as a benefit club, and having for its principle, no more strikes, but 
 private arrangement in each shop between the employer and the men. 
 
 In 1859, an amalgamation of the old and new Union took place, and 
 the result was in 1860, a strike for increase of wages. 
 
 The masters' society has taken active ste'ps of self-defence, and are 
 advertising for workmen, with the proviso that no trades' union or 
 combination men need apply. 
 
 The boot trade seems to be in a very critical position. On the one 
 hand, the price of leather has risen very much, and on the other, 
 machinery is being introduced, not only for ujiper leathers, but for 
 the manufacture of the whole boot ; and the duty on French boots and 
 shoes having been taken off, the home market is exposed to foreign 
 competition. 
 
 The Master Boot and Shoemakers' Society consists of nearly 100 
 members, including some of the largest employers in London. The 
 principal rules in their Society are as follows : — 
 
 " Eule 2. That this Society take for its principle that the union 
 amongst its members is not for any reduction of wages, but for the 
 protection of themselves and their journeymen from the oppression 
 and evils of strikes and trades' union combinations; and that, if any 
 member of this Society reduces his wages, he does so without its 
 sanction, approval, or support. 
 
 " Kule 3. Subscription to be 10*. Qd. per annum. 
 
 " Eule 6. That no gentleman can be received as a member of this 
 Society paying less than 6s. for the making of his boots, with stitched 
 rands and stitched seats ; and 5s. for boots with blind rands and blind 
 seats. 
 
 " Rule 9. That in the event of any shop being struck, notice shall be 
 sent thereof in writing to the secretary within twenty-four hours, 
 
Bootmakers. 321 
 
 stating the names of the men so , striking. And every member is 
 pledged not to employ those men while the shop continues in that state. 
 
 " Rule 10. That the secretary shall immediately send a notice of 
 such strike, and the names of such men, to every member of this 
 Association; and every member shall immediately endeavour to supply 
 the wants of the shop, by sending men, and by other means in his 
 power. 
 
 " Rule 1 1 . That all the members of this Society be pledged to support 
 each other in the employment of any man, if his character and con- 
 duct be correct, whether such man be joined to a union or not. 
 
 "Rule 12. That to effect the objects of this Society each member is 
 bound (providing that his own shop be not disturbed) to manufacture, 
 upon the written order of the secretary, one or more pairs of boots or 
 shoes per week for a fellow member, at the discretion of the committee." 
 
 Appended is a letter, in extenso, from a master bootmaker, in 
 Blackburn, exhibiting the unwise and improper conduct of the opera- 
 tives' Association in that town : — 
 
 " Blackburn, June 16, 1860. 
 
 " Sir, — The most simple way of answering your communication 
 wiU be for me to give, in as few words as possible, a brief history of 
 strikes with which I have myself had to contend. I have been in 
 business only four years, and have already suffered from three strikes. 
 When first I began business, I found great difficulty in obtaining 
 workmen. Indeed, in order to get any woric made at all, I had to 
 pay the very highest wages, and received in return only second-rate 
 work. I knew that, if this state of tilings continued, I should be un- 
 able to compete with other masters in the same trade. All the best 
 workmen, in every branch, belong to trades' unions. There was, 
 therefore, no alternative. So long as I paid the best wages, I must 
 have the best workmen, and I could get these only from the trades' ' 
 society. I never did pay to any man less than the statement wages,. 
 and for that reason never anticipated any unpleasantness from the 
 trades' union. However, I was mistaken. A very few months had 
 passed, when I happened to give out work to a man who did not belongi 
 to the Society. The. day following a deputation waited upon me to 
 say that I must immediately discharge him, and that, if I ever gave, 
 work to another ' non-society man,' my shop would be immediately - 
 struck. I was obliged to comply. In about another month I hap- ■ 
 pened to put on several more men, and never once thought of asking 
 whether they belonged to the Union or not. It happened that one of 
 them did not belong to the trade union, so a meeting was immediately 
 called, and in a very short time a deputation waited upon me again. 
 They informed me that I had been told before not to give work to 
 non-society men, and that they could not be at the expense of holding 
 meetings on my account. I must, therefore, not only discharge the 
 ' scab' (as they called him), but must likewise pay the expense of the 
 meeting. I thought this was coming it rather too strong, and saw for 
 the first time that if I did not make a stand I should have no peace. I 
 therefore told them, in reply, that I would willingly discharge the 
 
 X 
 
322 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 man, but as to paying the expenses of the meeting I would not, for, 
 in my opinion, there had been no occasion for any meeting. If the 
 secretary had merely called to inform me that the man did not belong 
 to the Union, I should have discharged him at once. It was useless 
 to reason with them. The shop was struck, and upwards of twenty men 
 were sent on tramp. The trade's funds happened to be very low at 
 that time, and as nearly all my men were married, and had families, 
 the expenses were rather heavy, so that in about a month they came 
 to me to see if they could not arrange matters with me. Their first 
 proposal was that I must discharge all the men I had employed 
 since the strike ; but this I would not hear of. After a long delay 
 the strike was settled, on these terms — that all my old men should 
 return to their work; that I should retain the non-society men so 
 long as I thought proper; but if ever they left, should give work 
 only to men belonging to the club. This ended the first strike. 
 Amongst shoemakers there are three distinct classes of men, viz., 
 men's men, who make men's shoes ; women's men, who make 
 women's boots and shoes ; and closers, who prepare and stitch 
 the tops. It so happened that most of my men did not return after 
 the strike, and not one of the closers, and we were consequently much 
 plagued for tops for the men. I have known the men at this time to 
 have been kept waiting as much as two days in each week. This 
 was about two years ago last February. It was about the time also 
 that the sewing machine began to be introduced into the shoe 
 business. The first tops stitched with a machine I saw were offered 
 
 ■for sale by Messrs. S , of K . I purchased a few dozen 
 
 pairs, and the beauty of the work quite astonished the men. I spoke 
 to several of my men on the subject, and told them what advantages 
 they would derive if I were to buy a machine myself, inasmuch as 
 they would then never have to wait a single hour for tops. They 
 nearly all indeed coincided with me, and recommended me to buy one. 
 This, however, I refused to do, till I received permission from the 
 trades' union, being determined, as I thought, to prevent another 
 strike. I therefore sent the following note to the trade's secretary: 
 
 " ' SiK, — As there is a great scarcity of closers at present, and 
 most of our men are kept waiting very often for tops, I think it would 
 be advisable for me to purchase a sewing machine ; would you, there- 
 fore, have the kindness to inform me whether the men would offer 
 any impediment thereto. 
 
 " ' I am, &c., A. B.' 
 
 " I received the following in reply, 
 
 " 'February 22nd, 1858. 
 "'Mr. A. B. 
 
 " ' Sir, — The Society have fuUy considered your note of this date, 
 and have resolved to offer no impediment to your employment of a 
 machine for the purpose you name. 
 
 " ' By Order of the Society, 
 
 " ' C. D.' 
 
Bootmakers. 323 
 
 " I objected to this note, because it was at first anonymous, but at 
 length got the secretary's signature. I have always found them very 
 tenacious on this point. On the 1st of March, I bought one of 
 Thomas's Sewing Machines, and from that date a man of mine never 
 waited an hour for tops. We went on comfortably for twelve months ; 
 the sewing machines must, by this time, have begun to affect the 
 closers, for in February, 1859, they (the closers) were plentiful in 
 Blackburn. In that month I was commanded by the very same 
 Society to cease working the machine ; they gave me time till the 1st 
 of April, to look out for closers, and notice that, if I worked the ma- 
 chine after that date, the shop would be struck. Mr. P , who 
 
 is not in any way connected with me, received the same notice. My 
 first impression was one of complete disgust, and I resolved to resist 
 such tyranny; but on second consideration, I saw the busy time coming 
 on, and saw more wisdom in trying to keep the men at work. I there- 
 fore began looking out for closers, but not one could I obtain. When 
 April arrived, I told them this, but it was all in vain. What must 
 be done ? 'If I cannot get closers, the machine will be obliged to work,' 
 thought I. There was no other alternative ; so the shop was struck 
 again, because I was obliged to use the very thing they granted only 
 twelve months before. The day following I thought I would, if it 
 were possible, still prevent the men from going, so I sent for the 
 secretary, and told him that I would in future give out no more 
 machine tops to be made in Blackburn, and I hoped that would 
 satisfy the men. My reason for doing this was, because I thought 
 I could get the machine tops made up elsewhere. So off he went, 
 and I was almost satisfied that the strike was settled (it was not so 
 however) ; for several months before this, I had been in the habit of 
 not only doing our own tops, but had likewise sold a many to other 
 masters, who were mostly in a small way of business. When the 
 secretary did not return that day, I was somewhat at a loss; but on 
 the day following, I became completely aware that it was impossible 
 to come to any settlement with such ignorant and overbearing tyrants. 
 A deputation waited upon me to say, that the men had decided that 
 the machine must not work at all, I must not do tops of any kind for 
 any person, the machine must stand stiU ; I wished them to wait tiU 
 the day following for my answer. I had already made up my mind 
 what to do, but thought I would see to what extent they would go. 
 When they called for my answer, I told them I would give up like- 
 wise doing tops of any kind with the sewing machine, provided they 
 would purchase the one I had from me. I reasoned with them, and 
 told them it was monstrous to suppose that I must buy a machine 
 one day for their good, and dispose of it again on another to suit 
 their purpose. I called attention to the secretary's letter, without any 
 effect ; so they returned again. They visited me nest at half-past ten 
 at night, and told me the men's decision, which was this : I must give 
 up the machine altogether, and for the loss of time they had experi- 
 enced I was fined £3, and if any other meetings were held concerning 
 the matter, a fine of £2 for each meeting would be infiicted ; I must 
 
 t2 
 
324 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 likewise, before they went back, sign a document to the effect that I 
 would never at any time again thereafter apply the sewing machine 
 in the manufacturing of boots and shoes. I was disgusted, and bid 
 them leave the house ; the following morning the secretary came to 
 inform me that the shop was struck, and it has remained so to this 
 day. During the past twelve months, I have certainly lost a good deal 
 of money thereby, but 'necessity is the mother of invention'; I have 
 invented and patented a machine which is capable of making one 
 hundred and fifty pairs of boots or shoes per day, and it is now 
 working on my premises daily, and the unionists, now they see they 
 have no power, are as humble as possible. Injustice however to some 
 of our men, I must state that they were very much against the strong 
 measures of the majority; and many of them were so much disgusted 
 that they left the trade altogether, and some are working my machine 
 at the present time. I enclose you the letter I sent the Society, 
 immediately after the shop was finally struck; likewise the reply. The 
 last strike was of such a trifling character that I need not relate it 
 to you, especially as I think the above sufficient for your purpose. 
 Hoping it may prove so, 
 
 " Believe me to be, yours obediently, 
 
 "A. B. 
 "P.S. — In order that you may thoroughly understand the foregoing 
 letter and enclosed papers, I thought it better to state that my lettei- 
 to the Society was written on the very day the shop was struck, whilst 
 I was hot with excitement. A few days afterwards I was sorry for 
 it, being satisfied the proper course for me to take under the circum- 
 stances would have been to treat them with silent contempt : I need 
 therefore scarcely add, that I had only twenty copies printed, but I 
 had instead a great number of the small handbills printed and circu- 
 lated, and these bi'ought me as many customers for tops as I could 
 possibly supply. I may also further add, that the sewing machine or 
 tops closed with it, are used in every shop in the town, without excep- 
 tion. Since I began working my own machinery for making the 
 bottoms, a deputation from the Society has again waited upon me to 
 state that I may have my shop settled, if I will discharge the men I 
 now employ; it only shows how ignorant they must be, and is proof 
 of the lamentable state of things it will involve, if such like men 
 once become possessed of the franchise." 
 
 COVENTRY WEAVERS. 
 
 [Materials : — Rules of the Coventry Factory Operatives' Association ; Answers 
 by the Secretary of the Out-of-Doors Weavers' Association, and of the Factory 
 Association, to the Questions concerning Trade Unions and Strikes ; Answers by 
 an ex-Foreman to the Questions concerning Strikes and those submitted to Em- 
 ployers of Labour ; a printed account of the Strike and Lock-out in 1858.] 
 
 Up to within the last thirty years there were no factories and no 
 strikes; the work was done by weavers at their own homes, and sold 
 off by the piece to the manufacturers. Between 1830-1835, factories 
 were established, where steam-power was used, and operatives em- 
 
Coventry Weavers. 325 
 
 ployed at weekly wages. This for some time gave satisfaction, and 
 the factory operatives even resisted proposals to introduce a system 
 of piecework. Associations, however, were formed — one by the out- 
 door weavers, in 1842, — to maintain a recognised list price, under 
 which Coventry wjjs divided into ten districts, and \d. per week 
 levied from each loom; another in 1850, by the factory operatives, 
 to keep up the rate of wages, — members contributing \d. per week 
 and any extra levy that might be imposed in time of a strike, in 
 order to pay an allowance of %s. per week to operatives thereby 
 thrown out of employment. The wages in the factories rapidly in- 
 creased, according to the authority of one master, in the six years 
 intervening between 1852 and 1858, from \2s. to 19s. or 21s. for 
 sixty hours of labour; but, at the same time, the facility of manufac- 
 ture increased still faster by the introduction of stronger and more 
 powerful looms, so that tjie out-door weavers began to feel that they 
 could not successfully compete with masters of factories employing 
 steam-power, and held it their best chance to bring about the adop- 
 tion by the masters in their factories of a price-list system in lieu of 
 the weekly wages system, the prices being based upon the prices paid 
 to out-door weavers, — i. e., the same prices with a deduction, say, of 
 33J per cent, for the expense and wear and tear of machinery. The 
 operatives in factories were at first opposed to this change, but came 
 to desire it, either hoping thereby to get better wages, or fearing lest, 
 if the out-door weavers were absorbed into factories, all operatives 
 would be entirely in the hands of their employers, and wages would 
 fall. Employers were generally against the changes, partly because 
 piecework system is a more troublesome one than that of weekly 
 wages, but chiefly because it would work a forfeiture to them of the 
 benefit from the increase of the productiveness of their machinery, 
 an increase caused by their own outlay upon more powerful looms. 
 Still, some masters did introduce piecework, and the desire for it to 
 become universal daily increased amongst the operatives. 
 
 In 1858, some questions arose in manufactories where the piece- 
 work system had been established, as to whether the prices were fair, 
 or the same as those given in Derbyshire, or were uniformly carried 
 out in Coventry. The workmen proposed a list, and on its being re- 
 jected by several masters, struck against one of the masters. There- 
 upon a conference was held between three factory masters, who paid 
 by the piece, and four delegates of factory operatives, and the list, as 
 before proposed, with some alterations, was adopted by both parties. 
 One factory master, however, not only rejected it, but announced his 
 intention to return to the weekly wages' system. A short strike 
 ensued, Avhen the two parties agreed to adopt either the price-list, or 
 weekly wages based upon the price-list. 
 
 This last agreement seems to have produced great efiect upon those 
 masters who had always adhered to the weekly wages' system, but 
 had conducted it without reference at all to the price-list, and they 
 feared that their own position was likely to be compromised. They 
 determined, therefore, to take active steps. Accordingly, on August 
 
326 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 27th, a manifesto, signed by five manufacturers, and shortly after- 
 wards by five others, vs^as issued, to the effect that in the event of any 
 attempt to force any one of them, either to pay piecework, or increase 
 theii" weekly wages, they would, at one and the same time, close all 
 their factories. This manifesto was the signal for general war. On 
 Saturday, August 8th, the operatives of one firm gave notice, and on 
 the same day the other firms, as had been preconcerted, locked out 
 their men. The operatives prepared for a great struggle to decide 
 the question of a piecework, or weekly wages system. On August 
 30th they resolved that hands in factories should pay a levy of \d. 
 in the shilling on their earnings; on September 2nd, that out-door 
 weavers should pay Is. weekly for every a-la-bar loom in work, and 
 6d. weekly for every hand-loom; and on September 16th, that the levy 
 should be increased, for factory weavers to 2d., and for pickers-up, 
 &c., to Id. in the shilling on their earnings; and on October 6th, 
 that the levy on the out-door weavers should be raised to 3s. weekly 
 on a-la-bar looms, and Is. weekly on hand-looms. At length the 
 inhabitants of Coventry felt it was necessary to take some steps to 
 terminate the struggle, if possible; and on October 12th they presented 
 a memorial to the Local Board of Health, praying the Board to procure 
 a meeting of the manufacturers and weavers, with a view to arrive 
 at some terms of reconciliation. After some difficulty, arising espe- 
 cially from a temporary objection by the masters to meet members of 
 the committee of the Operatives' Association, two committees, repre- 
 senting the two parties, were formed, held three meetings in the 
 justice room (the proceedings of which have been published at full 
 length), and appointed a sub-committee, who eventually drew up an 
 elaborate list of prices to be binding on all parties. Thus the 
 struggle ended, apparently with but one feeling in the minds of all, 
 that some board of conciliation was necessaiy, and also quite prac- 
 ticable, to prevent a return of such disastrous disputes. 
 
 However this list had not been settled seven months before it was 
 again disputed. In May, 1859, one master objected to the list on 
 the ground that by it the same prices were paid for the manufacture 
 of a certain kind of coarse inferior ribbon, as for the manufacture of 
 ribbon of better quality, and he proposed to return altogether to the 
 weekly payment system. The men struck rather than submit. The 
 example of this master was not followed in the other factories, nor 
 was he supported by the funds of the Coventry Silk Manufacturers' 
 Association, though that body expressed its opinion that the proposi- 
 tion of the master was a fair one. On the other hand, there was a 
 general combination amongst the men against the return to weekly 
 wages, a combination of the factory and out-door operatives, of union- 
 ists and non-unionists. The strike was managed by the two coromit- 
 teesof the Factory Weavers' Association, and the Out-Door Weavers' 
 Association, and also by an auxiliary committee of the hands generally 
 on strike. Levies were raised 15 per cent, on the weekly earnings 
 •of factory weavers, 7 per cent, on those of out-door weavers, also 2s. 
 per week upon every loom worked in a private house, whether be- 
 
Coventry Weavers. 327 
 
 longing to unionists or non-unionists. The allowance at first was 
 to all those upon strike, whether men, women, or boys, %\d. per 
 diem ; at the close, to members \s. per diem, to non-members lO^i^. 
 The strike lasted ten weeks, from May 7, 1859, to July 21, 1859, 
 and at the end of that time the master, finding he could not carry on 
 his works by imported hands, agreed to continue the piecework sys- 
 tem, and thereupon the operatives consented to be paid less for the 
 manufacture of the cheap ribbon, their own charges for the same 
 being proportionately reduced. The result of the whole was that 
 the feeling against piecework, although under that system a large 
 minority would earn higher wages than by weekly hirings, became 
 stronger than ever, and several workmen were induced to procure 
 one or two power-looms for themselves, and to work them at home ; 
 though there seems to be some doubt whether much success has 
 followed from this plan. The associations of the operatives also 
 received a large accession of numbers during and after this strike. 
 
 The strike was not free from cases of intimidation ; one of the mas- 
 ters summoned several of his men for neglect of work, and he was 
 followed in the streets, shouted at, escorted to church and chapel by 
 numbers of operatives, some wearing their summonses upon their 
 breasts. Also at the close a list of "knob-sticks," i.e., of the 
 hands that had been imported during the strike, was circulated 
 through the district. 
 
 The commercial treaty, made with France in this year, has oisened 
 the whole question afresh. The masters, finding themselves exposed 
 to more severe competition with the manufacturers of Basle and St. 
 Etienne, proceeded to deliberate upon the resumption of the system 
 of weekly wages. The men, oh the other hand, had a large out-of- 
 door meeting, at which they decided to insist upon piecework, and 
 nothing short of an absolutely uniform list of prices. Eventually 
 all the Coventry manufacturers withdrew their names from the 
 piecework list, offering instead weekly wages, to men from 16«. to 
 20«., to women from 9«. to 13s., and in a printed circular gave 
 the following reasons for their conduct : — 
 
 " 1 . Because neither manufacturers nor weavers have been faithful 
 to the contract as to the piecework list. 
 
 " 2. Because a compulsory uniform list has been used as an instru- 
 ment of intimidation and persecution. 
 
 " 3. Because it is the right of every Englishman to sell uio raOou; 
 to whom he will on his own terms. 
 
 "4. Because the weavers themselves recognise this right by em- 
 ploying persons in their own houses on weekly wages. 
 
 " 5. Because while they do this they at the same time insist upon 
 the list price being paid to them by the manufacturers. 
 
 " 6. Because it is impossible to frame a list which shall be a just 
 payment for all classes and kinds of work. 
 
 " 7. Because a compulsory list bears unjustly upon those weavers 
 who can earn more money in the factory on weekly wages than oif 
 piecework. 
 
328 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 " 8. Because it constitutes a barrier to the encouragement and adop- 
 tion of many required improvements in the production of ribbons, 
 and hampers the trade with artificial restrictions. 
 
 "9. Because the value of labour depends upon circumstances, and 
 must fluctuate according to supply and demand ; and a list price is 
 framed on the assumption that the -weaver's labour has a fixed and 
 unchanging value. 
 
 " 10. Because we are now exposed to the competition of manufac- 
 turers abroad, who have the command of a free labour market." 
 
 The weavers refused these terms, and decided to close every loom 
 in Coventry and for fifteen miles round, and the result was, that 
 about 12,000 men were thrown out of work. The greatest distress 
 followed : out-door relief was one day distributed to the extent of 
 £70 in bread ; subscriptions were received from many quarters, in- 
 cluding £80 from the Derby silk weavers, £50 from Sir J. Paxton, 
 and £50 from the Right Hon. E. Ellice, M.P. Many workmen have 
 been arrested for acts of disturbance, and the mayor has been com- 
 pelled to issue a proclamation against any act tending to intimida- 
 tion. The latest particulars have not reached us. 
 
 The whole dispute amongst the Coventry weavers seems to be re- 
 duced to this one question — which shall be the system of payment, — 
 by the piece, or by weekly wages ? This however is perfectly clear : 
 that either system if fairly and sensibly worked can insure equitable 
 remuneration alike to the operative and the manufacturer. But 
 there is too much reason to believe that each party at present con- 
 siders its own interests exclusively. On the one hand, the master 
 insists upon weekly wages (by which the operatives receive the 
 same payment however great be the amount of work produced), in 
 order that he may monopolize the whole benefit gained by the in- 
 creased productiveness of the larger looms. This, although the cost of 
 the larger looms falls wholly upon the master, is nevertheless not fair, 
 because these large looms require more skill and labour, and because 
 the very fact that they are more profitable than small ones, increases 
 proportionately the demand for labour to work them. On the other 
 hand, the out-door weavers desire the factory operatives to be paid 
 by the piece, and that prices should be based on the out-door prices, 
 obviously with a view that they (the out-door weavers) with their 
 hand and small looms may be put on a level with their competitors, 
 the masters, who have powerful looms, and work them by steam. 
 If so, they are endeavouring falsely to maintain the market for their 
 own goods, and to place restrictions on the productiveness of others, 
 and must be playing a losing game. 
 
 The case of the Coventry weavers seems to be one which, as they 
 themselves felt in 1858, peculiarly calls for arbitration. 
 
Coventry Watch-Makers. 
 
 329 
 
 COVENTRY WATCH-MAKERS. 
 
 [Materials :— Answers by the Secretary on behalf of the Operatives' Society to 
 !!!? i'u®^^"'"^ concerning Trades' Unions; Report of the first annual meeting; 
 third half-yearly ditto ; a list of prices ; a balance-sheet.] 
 
 The Society of the operatives was established in the year 1858, at 
 a time when cheap and bad watches were bringing discredit on the 
 trade, and depressing wages. 
 
 Its members are at present 600, but this does not constitute more 
 than half the trade. Weekly contribution Id. 
 
 Watch-makers are hired by the day, and also paid by piecework. 
 The object of the Society is to fix a minimum wage, and for this 
 purpose it has drawn up a list of prices. These however it can at 
 present only recommend to both master and man, for the master 
 manufacturers, — interested apparently in withholding from the public 
 the prices they have paid or are paying, and in being unrestricted as 
 to what wages they shall in future pay, — have either declined enter- 
 ing into any negotiation with the operatives' Society, or have pro- 
 mised to do so and failed. The report of the first annual meeting is 
 chiefly occupied with the account of the abortive efforts of the Society 
 to get the list of prices recognised, it also refers to the overstocking of 
 the market with unskilled workmen, owing to the lax and overgrown 
 system of apprenticeship. 
 
 The trade seems to be not entirely free from the truck system : and 
 generally to be in rather a depressed state. 
 
 Balance-sheet of Coventry Watch-Makers'' Association for half- 
 year ending March Z\st, 1860. 
 
 In Treasurer's hands, Octo- 
 
 6 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 10 
 
 d. 
 
 Hi 
 IJ 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 £ s. d. 
 Paid Collectors 3 9 
 
 ber 1st, 1859 3 
 
 Contributions and Hono- 
 rary subscriptions 50 
 
 Use ofSt. Mary's Hall twice 17 3 
 Mr. Cole's lectures and ex- 
 penses 6 10 
 
 For admission to Mr. Cole's 
 lectures 1 
 
 Printer's Bill 2 3 10 
 
 Mr. Linwood 17 6 
 
 A&veriismgm The Standard 3 6 
 
 Ditto in ^r«e Press 2 9 
 
 National Assurance United 
 
 Trade, subscription for ... 2 
 To Bank 24 10 8 
 
 Discount on Messrs. Goods' 
 
 bill 
 
 Interest from Bank 1 
 
 
 Postage 4 6 
 
 Quarter's rent for Com- 
 mittee Room 15 
 
 
 Secretary's Salary 2 10 
 
 Check-taker 3 
 
 
 In Treasurer's hands H H 9 
 
 £56 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 £56 8 9' 
 
330 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 Summary £ s. d. 
 
 In Bank, September 20th, 1859 84 10 
 
 Cash to Bank since 24 10 8 
 
 In Treasurer's hands 11 11 9 
 
 £120 12 5 
 Deduct £ s. d. 
 
 Due to Collector 3 3 
 
 Good and Son 5 9 
 
 Wilcox 15 
 
 Seoretaiy 2 10 
 
 6 13 9 
 
 Balance in favour of Association. £118 18 8 
 
 UNITED KINGDOM SOCIETY OF COACHMAKEES. 
 
 [Materials : — 38th, 42nd, and 45th Quarterly Report.] 
 The points in the last Reports most worthy of notice are: — 
 
 1. The probability of a strike among the London coachmakers (a 
 quite independent society) to reduce the hours of labour to ten per 
 diem. 
 
 2. The proposal to contribute £150 to the London builders locked 
 out. 
 
 3. Account of the strikes during the quarter — only local and in- 
 significant ones, conducted chiefly to resist reduction of wages, or the 
 introduction into the yards of operatives not exactly coach-builders, 
 as blacksmiths, harness makers, horse shoers, and wheelwrights. 
 
 4. A grateful acknowledgment to two firms for having granted 
 the short hours on Saturdays. 
 
 5. A promise of a list of "black'' shops; and a list given of black 
 operatives to the number of 182, with this explanation: — "Many 
 members confusing the word ' black' applied to a man, with a non- 
 society man, we wish to inform such, that a 'black' is a man who 
 has at any time gone to work in a shop which is closed by us in con- 
 sequence of some grievance existing and not removed. This refers 
 to men who go in, not merely as soon as the men are brought out, 
 but so long as it is closed, it may be for years." 
 
 6. A list of acts of embezzlement committed by secretaries. 
 The summary of the quarterly account of December, 1859, is — 
 
 Income £4,249 ISs. Od. Expenditure... £806 6 2 
 
 Balance 443 7 10 
 
 1,249 15 
 In hand.. .1,164 15 2 
 
 Total... £ 2,414 10 2 
 
 Then follow the items in extenso. It appears that the Society is 
 increasing; the present number of branches is 119, and the total 
 number of members 3,928. A balance-sheet is presented for each 
 branch: — 
 
Masons m the North of England. 331 
 
 On the Income side stand the On the Expenditure side — 
 items — Amount paid to travellers (the 
 
 Contributions. number of whom is given). 
 
 Fines. Special and committee meetings. 
 
 Postage, parcels, and stationery. 
 Salary of secretaries. 
 Superannuation. 
 Besides this, an account is given as to each town, of 
 The arrears. 
 
 The balance last quarter. 
 
 The amount received from the executive committee. 
 The balance sent to the executive committee. 
 And the total balance at the end of the quarter. 
 
 MASONS IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 [Materials : — Rules of the National Association of Master Builders ; Eules of 
 the Manchester District Branch of the same Association ; Rules of the Journey- 
 men and Master Masons of Halifax ; Some Rules of the Operative Masons' 
 Society, published in a Circular issued by the Masters during a Strike ; Answers 
 of a Building Firm of Halifax to the Questions submitted to Employers of 
 Labour ; a few miscellaneous papers.] 
 
 We are informed by the Halifax employers that in the district 
 of Halifax (whatever are the limits of that district) there have been, 
 at various times, combinations of masters, but only of a temporary 
 and partial character, called into existence by emergencies; as, for 
 instance, the present nine hours' movement has led to the formation 
 of a society. These societies are, however, stated to have produced 
 almost no effect upon trade. 
 
 The only two of such societies in the North of England, con- 
 cerning which any information has been received, are the "National 
 Association of Master BuUders," and the " West Riding Association 
 of Master Builders." 
 
 The National Association of Master Builders was established in 
 July, 1857; it was intended to be a permanent, wide-spreading, 
 and elaborately organized Association, as is manifest from the rules 
 and resolutions presently quoted. 
 
 The Prospectus of the Association runs as follows : — 
 " The Association is to consist of all parties connected with the build- 
 ing trade who may be disposed to incorporate themselves as members, 
 and to conform to the rules. Its object is to watch over and protect 
 the interests of the building trade throughout the United Kingdom. 
 It has no intention to adopt any means, or to make use of any com- 
 bined efforts which will in anywise militate against the wellbeing 
 of the operative, or in the least degree retard the progressive im- 
 provement of the condition of so important a class of the community 
 of this country as our skilful artisans ; but on the contrary, it 
 proposes to introduce such salutary correctives as shall be mutually 
 advantageous to both the employer and the employed, and which 
 
332 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 shall Lave the eiFect of checking those unwarrantable movements so 
 frequently made by national organized societies, ■which tend to injure 
 the ti-ade, and are such fruitful sources of loss to the workman, and 
 of privation to their families." 
 
 By the second rule, the entrance fee is fixed at 5s. 
 
 By the third rule, the Association is to have an annual meeting. 
 At this meeting the accounts are to be audited, the office-bearers for 
 the ensuing year appointed, central and district rejiorts received, and, 
 if satisfactory, adopted ; and such time is to be allowed by the 
 president, as he may think necessary for deliberation upon the 
 general affairs of the Association. 
 
 The president, treasurer, secretary, and committee of seven, are 
 to meet quarterly. 
 
 The seventh rule, after [premising that in order efficiently to carry 
 out the plans and intentions of this Association, it is necessary to 
 institute a judicious division of labour, prescribes that for this pur- 
 pose the various localities of the United Kingdom shall, from time to 
 time, be divided into districts, and the respective towns or places 
 shall be incorporated with such district as the central committee, in 
 conjunction with the local association, may agree upon ; that the 
 local association at the head of any district, shall visit, or otherwise 
 communicate with all the master masons and builders in their dis- 
 trict, using every effort to forward the interests of the Association; 
 that the district treasurer shall cause to be collected from each 
 member the sum of 5*., and, when called upon, shall remit all monies 
 received to the general treasurer ; and that the district secretary 
 shall forward the names and address of those persons who from 
 time to time shall become members, and shall afford in >vriting, 
 addressed to the secretary of the Association, special or general 
 information. 
 
 By the eighth rule, each district association is to send one or more 
 delegates to the quarterly meetings, and also to other meetings, if 
 circumstances, in the opinion of the central committee, require the 
 same. 
 
 In pursuance of the seventh and eighth rules, it was at the same time 
 resolved that Manchester should be appointed as the central place 
 for conducting the affairs and business of the Association for the year 
 commencing from July 15, 1857, and that the following places should 
 be appointed heads of districts, viz., Birmingham, Blackburn, 
 Bolton, Darlington, Leicester, Derby, Huddersfield, Liverpool, 
 Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, and York. 
 
 The chief inunediate object of the Association was to procure the 
 uniform adoption by all masters of the system of payment by the 
 hour, instead of by the day. With this view their first practical 
 resolution, dated July 11, 1857, was, " That from and after the first 
 Monday in May, 1858, all members shall commence payment of 
 wages to their respective workmen at a rate per hour, and not per 
 day; notice of this uniform payment of wages by the hour to be 
 given by each master to his own workmen on the 1st day of November, 
 
Masons in the North of England. 333 
 
 1857, stating the amount of wages per hour he will pay, and other 
 alterations, if any, from the usual local arrangements." 
 
 The advantages of this change are thus stated, in a very sensible 
 address issued by the Liverpool master masons, in the month of 
 April, 1858. 
 
 Advantages to the employers : — The " hour" furnishes as a basis 
 for their calculations a portion of time which is the same all the year 
 round, whereas " day " is a portion of time of uncertain length. 
 For instance, " day," on Monday represents a period of nine hours, on 
 the four succeeding days ten hours, and on Saturday eight and a half 
 hours. To make an equitable division of this into days and quarters 
 requires three separate entries, even during the summer or long days, 
 and during the winter months the division is fraught with further 
 difficulty and inconvenience. 
 
 Advantages to the operative : — 1. A mason having work on hand, 
 and coming late to it, will be able to commence work at the termi- 
 nation of any one hour, instead of having to lose a quarter of a day ; 
 he will also be able to commence any fresh job at any hour during 
 the day. 2. A mason will not so often lose a Saturday's work. 
 Under the day system, if a master has a job at the end of the week, 
 he usually, to get the benefit of a full day's work for a day's pay, 
 gives notice on the Friday to the men to come on Monday, and not 
 before. 
 
 Advantage to the public : — In the case of repairs and alterations 
 they will not have to pay a full day's wages for a short day's work, 
 nor to submit to the inconvenience of the delay occasioned by the 
 master, as is frequently the case, sending the men away from ■\\'ork 
 on the short days. 
 
 The notice, according to the resolution of the Association, was 
 duly given, but in April, 1858, the masters were informed by a 
 deputation of operatives that the operative masons of England 
 refused to accept payment by the hour. The masters have been 
 unable to enforce their object, and the system of payment by the day 
 is stili in operation. We have not been informed whether the 
 National Association of Masters continues in existence. 
 
 Of the West Riding Association of Master Builders we have no 
 information, beyond the fact that it arose in consequence of the nine 
 hours' movement. On© of its rules is indicated in the following 
 circular : — 
 
 " Brunswick Terkace, Leeds, August 7, 1860. 
 " Gentlemen, — I beg to enclose you a list of masons' names lately 
 employed by members of this Association at Plalifax, and now on 
 strike. 
 
 "According to the rules we ai'e bound not to employ these men in 
 any other town until the strike is terminated. 
 
 " I remain, yours very respectfully, 
 
 " A. B., Secrcfari/." 
 A list of eighty-five names is appended to this letter. 
 
""■* 3Iiscellaneous Papers. 
 
 The employer who has given us iuformation concerning the 
 trade at Halifax and Bradford, states that a general advance of 
 ■wages took place in July, 185.3, and August, 1857, that they have 
 not since fallen, and that the current wages of masons are 4«. 6d. 
 per diem. This last statement, it is presumed, refers only to the 
 wages at Halifax during the summer, i.e. nine months of the year, 
 for otherwise it would require some qualification, — the Halifax wages, 
 if the rules of 1858 are still in force, being, for the winter months, 
 4«. 2d. per diem, and the Huddersfield wages being 4*. all the year 
 round. The system of apprenticeship in the joiners' and carpenters' 
 department, is by a seven years' indenture. In the masons' depart- 
 ment there is no system at all. Journeymen are allowed to have 
 two, and in some instances three, sons. They move about, it is 
 said, from place to place, to get more wages for their sons. At 
 about eighteen years of age these apprentices enter the Society, and 
 become the most active members in cases of strike, causing the 
 Societies to act in such a way as often to disgust the older members, 
 who in many instances, to the knowledge of the employer, have 
 renounced all connexion with the Societies. The employer thinks 
 that there should be a system of apprenticeship in all the building de- 
 partments, which would exclude inefBcient workmen, who now draw 
 undue wages by means of the Society. All combinations, both of 
 masters and men, should, he is of opinion, be abolished. 
 
 The same employer states that the Union comprises about one- 
 half of the operatives ; that, in his opinion, it is quite unneces- 
 sary for the maintenance of wages, for though it may sometimes 
 effect a temporary rise, yet in the building trade the direct and 
 immediate operation of the law of supply and demand, which brings 
 all wages to their natural level, is clearly perceptible ; that the fixed 
 rate of wages is a most mischievous system — it invites only the 
 inferior workman by the prospect of wages higher than he deserves, 
 it causes the best workmen to keep aloof from the Society, and it 
 makes those who are members careless and indifierent workmen. 
 Unionists strike against the employment of a single non-unionist 
 in the same works, and will not allow the masters to procure 
 ready-worked material from the quarries. As compared with 
 non-unionists, they are represented to be unreasonable, because 
 oppressed into a submission of the most abject kind to the dictum 
 of a committee or some other unseen authority; to come from the 
 more unskilled and more lowly paid class ; and in all cases to do 
 work inferior in kind and less in quantity. 
 
 The rules of unionists are regulated, as to general principles, by 
 their central Society, but in particulars by the district Societies, in 
 some cases sanctioned by the district masters. The following com- 
 parison may be instructive. 
 
Masons in the North of England. 
 
 335 
 
 Kdles for the Journeymen and 
 Master Masons of the Town op 
 Halifax and its Vicinitt, Agreed 
 TO ET Employees and Employed, 
 March, 1859. 
 
 1. Hours of Labour. The hours of 
 labour to be 
 
 Monday 7 a.m. — 5.30 p.m. 
 
 Saturday 6 a.m. — 4 p.m. 
 
 Otherdays 6 a.m. — 5.30 p.m. 
 
 Itt no case work to be later than 
 5.30 P.M. 
 
 2. Quarter Time. Quarter Time to 
 be, during the winter months, i.e. from 
 the 12th of November to the 14th of 
 February (both days inclusive) , from 
 9.30 A.M. to 3 P.M. ; in the summer 
 months from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 
 
 3. Wages. Summer Wages, 4s. %d. 
 per diem ; winter ditto, 4s. 2d. 
 
 4. Payment of Wages. Wages to be 
 paid weelily, immediately after 4 p.m., 
 and not in a public-house or inn. 
 
 5. Meal Hours. An hour every day 
 for dinner; and during the summer 
 months, half an hour also for break- 
 fast. 
 
 6. Piecework and Overtime. Sub- 
 contracting and piecework to be abo- 
 lished. 
 
 Overtime not be allowed, except in 
 cases of emergency, and then men not to 
 work more than two hours for a quarter 
 of a day ; and to be allowed time and 
 a half for all time worked after the 
 first quarter. 
 
 7. Sheds. Sheds shall be erected 
 upon all jobs where found necessary; 
 but where there are no sheds, the men 
 shall receive &d. per day above their 
 regular wages. 
 
 B. Notice. Should any of these rules 
 
 Some Rules of the Operative 
 Masons, Published in a Circular 
 of the Masters during a Strike at 
 Huddersfield, in March, 1860, and 
 therein pronounced to be " Totally 
 inapplicable to the Masters, or 
 those with whom they conieaot 
 for work." 
 
 1. That we commence work at 7 
 o'clock every morning throughout the 
 year. That a day's work be from 7 
 a.m. to 5.30 P.M. ; and on Saturday 
 the work to cease at 4 p.m., and on all 
 days (except Saturday) in the winter 
 months, from the 12th of November to 
 the 14th of November, at 5. 
 
 2. That 9.30 a.m. be the starting 
 point for three quarters of a day, and 
 1 P.M. for a half day's work. 
 
 3. Current Wages for every working 
 day throughout the year to be 4s. 
 
 4. Wages to be paid every Saturday, 
 as soon as work ceases, either at the 
 employer's office or on the work. In 
 no case at a public-house. 
 
 6. During the summer months, half 
 an hour for breakfast and an hour for 
 dinner. During the winter months, 
 20 minutes for breakfast and 40 minutes 
 for dinner. 
 
 6. No master to sublet any mason's 
 work ; and no member of this Society 
 to work by the piece or sub-contract 
 with any master mason. 
 
 No member to work more than six 
 days per week, except at jobbing, or 
 other work where it can be shown that 
 there is a necessity to work overtime ; 
 in which case, and likewise for worii 
 on Sunday, they shall work two hours 
 for the first quarter, and be paid for 
 work after that time at the rate of time 
 and a half. Overtime, in winter to be 
 calculated from the time of leaving off 
 up to the time of starting on the job 
 for the time being. 
 
 7. In yards, or on jobs, the nature 
 or extent of which render the demand 
 reasonable, sheds shall be erected ; the 
 Society, in conjunction with the mas- 
 ters, to have a voice, where dispute 
 exists relative to the erection of sheds. 
 Any employer not acting in accordance 
 with this rule to pay one-half of the 
 time his men may lose in consequence 
 thereof. 
 
 8. Either party wishing to make any 
 
336 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 require to bo altered, three months' no- alteration in these rules, shall give six 
 tice shall be given, both by masters months' notice, stating the nature of 
 and men. the alterations. The notice to expire 
 
 between the 1st of May and the 1st of 
 
 August. 
 
 The cliief difference between these two sets of rules, it will be 
 observed, consists in this : that, as compared with Huddersfield 
 masons, the Halifax masons, in summer, work 5 hours more per 
 week and receive 3«. more wages ; and in winter work 7J hours more 
 and receive \s. more. Bearing this in mind, the fact that one set of 
 rules was sanctioned by the Halifax masters, and the other set was 
 j)ronounced by the Huddersfield masters to be totally inapplicable, 
 admits of several solutions. Either it is only the points of difference 
 that constitute the total inapplicability of the Huddersfield rules ; 
 or both rules are inapplicable, and the Halifax masters must be 
 supposed to have granted their sanction only under constraint ; or 
 both sets are fair rules, and the Huddersfield masters took unreason- 
 able objection to theirs ; or, lastly, rules which were fair at Halifax 
 in March, 1859, were not fair at Huddersfield in March, 1860. 
 
 In the month of April in the present year, the Bradford operative 
 masons addressed the following letter to the master builders : — 
 
 To the blaster Builders of Bradford and its Vicinity. 
 
 " King's Head, Bradford, April 10, 1860. 
 " SiKS, — We, the operative masons of Bradford and its vicinity, do 
 ask of you to grant us a reduction in the hours of labour from 
 57i to 51 J hours per week, which will be one hour less in each day 
 in the week, the same to commence on the first Monday in June of 
 the present year. This is a decision of a general meeting held on 
 the 2nd of April, — and this is to serve as a notice of the same. 
 Hoping you will see with us, and grant our request, 
 
 " We remain, yours respectfully, 
 
 " The Opekative Masons. 
 
 " All communications to be addressed to the Chairman of Com- 
 mittee, King's Head Inn, Westgate, Bradford." 
 
 And on the 11th of July this letter was succeeded by another to 
 the following effect : — 
 
 " July 11, I860. 
 
 " Gentlemex, — We have been requested by some of our employers 
 to urge on you the necessity of having a meeting to meet the 
 operatives previous to having the new code of rules for Bradford 
 printed. 
 
 " A reply will oblige yours, 
 
 " The Operative Masons op Beadpoed. 
 
 " King's Head, Westgate." 
 
 It does not appear whether or not to these letters any reply, in 
 the nature of a formal acknowledgment such as would have been a 
 proper act of consideration, was sent ; nor does my information 
 enable me to verify the allegation of the operatives that they gave 
 
Masons in the North of England. 337 
 
 distinct warning to the masters that the Union committee would sit 
 fourteen days to receive communications ; but, at all events, no 
 substantial communication was made by the masters till the 31st of 
 July. Still there is nothing to show any real disregard on their part 
 towards the demand of the operatives, for on that day, in accordance 
 with a resolution carried at a meeting held to consider the means 
 of dealing with what they thought an excessive and incoavenient 
 reduction of the hours of labour to 8h. 35m. per diem, they offered, 
 in lieu of an alteration in the hours of labour, an advance of wages 
 in one of the two following methods : — Either, time being kept as 
 before, an advance of Is. per week to be paid to each man ; or the 
 week's work to consist of fifty-seven hours, work on Monday begin- 
 ning an hour later, and on Saturday closing at noon, and payment to 
 be by the hour, at the rate of 6d. per hour. 
 
 This offer was, to judge by the one instance before me, made by 
 each master to his own men, in writing, and signed by him ; and, 
 according to the representation of an employer, it would have been 
 acceptable to the majority of the Union, but, at the dictation of their 
 officers, it was refused. 
 
 The masters then, either singly or collectively, made a second 
 proposition, this time, apparently, to the Union collectively, viz., 
 that five employers and five employed should form a committee to 
 manage the difference, with power to choose three disinterested 
 persons, whose decision should be final. 
 
 This proposition met with the following unwise and discourteous 
 answer : — 
 
 " LoKD Nelson Inn, Cow Green Inn, Halifax, 
 " July 31, 1860. 
 
 •' Sirs, — In reply to your letter this evening, which has been laid 
 before the general meeting, we beg to state that such propositions 
 cannot be entertained now, as you would see by the appeal we sent 
 to you, that a committee would sit fourteen days to receive any 
 communications you might think proper to introduce, and as no 
 proposition was received during that time, none can be entertained, 
 now. Nothing more to communicate. 
 
 " We remain, yours respectfully, 
 
 " The Masons op Halifax.. 
 
 " To Messrs. " 
 
 The result of this difference has not been made known to us. 
 The only further remarks that here suggest themselves are — 
 
 1. That the " National Association of Master Builders " offers the 
 rare, if not unique, instance of a masters' association organized into 
 a central committee and local branches, and in this respect, con- 
 ducting its operatioi^s on exactly the same principle as an ordinary 
 operatives' trade union. 
 
 2. That the " West Riding Association of Master Builders " has 
 a "blacklist" of masters, just as trade unions have their "black 
 lists " of operatives. 
 
338 Miscellaneous Papers. 
 
 3. That the operative masons of Bradford and Halifax make 
 their communications with their masters, not by a writing signed 
 with their own names, or on behalf of those in the employ of the 
 particular master to whom the address is made, but by a mere 
 circular, signed " The Oiieratives of Bradford," or, " The Opera- 
 tives of Halifax," and sent round to the several masters. This 
 course cannot be recommended. A master has a right to com- 
 plain, if his men do not give him the opportunity of treating with 
 them directly ; and the operatives may suffer from it, for the validity 
 of such a circular to found a legal notice will, as appears from the 
 report on the chain makers, be always open to question.* 
 
 * Sup. pp. 154, 155. 
 
SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HISTOEY OP LEGISLATION IN ENGLAND 
 
 EELATINQ TO 
 
 COMBINATIONS OF WORKMEN. 
 
 B.EPRINTED, BY PEEMiasiON, FROM 
 
 "AN INQUIRY INTO THE LAW OF 'STRIKES.'" 
 By FRANCIS D. LONGE, 
 
 OF THE INNER TEMPLE, BAEKiaiER-AT-LAW. 
 
 The statutes which in former times had a direct bearing upon the 
 law of " strikes " were : — 
 
 (1.) Those fixing the rate of wages which workmen should 
 receive, the hours of their work, or the periods of their hiring. 
 
 (2.) Those prohibiting workmen from entering into agreements 
 amongst themselves, either for the purpose of advancing the rate of 
 their wages, or determining any other terms upon which they should 
 employ their labour. 
 
 As the rate of wages, fixed by statute, was in every case the 
 maximum rate which either the masters might give or workmen 
 receive, so long as such legal rate existed, a demand by either one or 
 more workmen of wages above the legal rate was a contempt of the 
 statute law. The earlier statutes against combinations then may be 
 regarded as being subsidiary only to the statutes fixing the rate of 
 
 The practice of fixing the rate of wages by statute commenced 
 in the year 1350. 
 
 It appears from the history of the first statute of labourers, as 
 well as from the express words of the Legislature, that it was 
 enacted with the direct object of compelling the labourer to accept 
 lower wages than he would otherwise have been able to obtain. 
 
 A great plague having diminished the numbers of the labouring 
 class, the survivors claimed to benefit by the absence of former com- 
 petition, and to enjoy some advance of wages. This, however, was 
 at once prevented. An ordinance of the Government, which was 
 afterwards confirmed by the 25th Ed. III. c. 2, prohibited workmen 
 from taking any higher wages than those which were customary before 
 the plague. The preamble to this statute is as follows : — 
 
 " Whereas late against the malice of servants which were idle, 
 and not willing to work after the pestilence without taking excessive 
 
 z 2 
 
340 Legislation Relating to 
 
 ■wages, it was ordained that sucla manner of servants, as well men 
 and women, should be bound to serve, receiving salary or wages 
 accustomed, in places where they ought to serve, in the twentieth 
 year of the reign of the king that now is, or five or six years before 
 {i.e. before the plague) ; and that the same servants refusing to serve 
 should be punished by imprisonment of their bodies ; and forasmuch 
 as it is given the king to understand in this present Parliament that 
 the said servants, having no regard to the said ordinance but their 
 ease and singular covetise, do withdraw themselves to serve great 
 men and other unless they have living and wages to the double and 
 treble of that they were wont to take the said twentieth year before, 
 to the great damage of the great men and impoverishing of all the 
 commonalty. Wherefore," &c. 
 
 It was by this statute enacted (1) that labourers in husbandry 
 should not take more than a certain sum, and that they should be 
 hired for certain times, and that twice in every year they should be 
 sworn to obey the statute ; any labourer disobeying the statute to be 
 put in the stocks for three days ; (2) that carpenters, masons, and 
 other workmen in the building trades, should work for certain wages 
 during the summer, and for less during the winter ; and that all 
 workmen and artificers should obey the statute on peril of fine and 
 imprisonment at the discretion of the justices. 
 
 This power of imprisonment was afterwards restricted to fifteen 
 days. 
 
 The next statute, viz. the 34th Ed. III. c. 9, was directed especially 
 against workmen belonging to the building trade. Their employment 
 being necessarily precarious, it seems that they had objected to be 
 hired by the day at no higher wages than those of other day labour- 
 ers, and had been combining in order to obtain better terms than 
 those which the Legislature thought proper to allow them. This 
 is the first statute expressly prohibiting combinations of workmen. 
 It enacts — 
 
 " That carpenters and masons take from henceforth wages by the 
 day, and not by the week, nor in other manner ; and that the chief 
 masters of carpenters and masons take four pence by the day, and the 
 others three pence or two pence according as they be worth. And 
 that all alliances and covines of masons and carpenters, and con- 
 gregations, chapters, ordinances, and oaths betwixt them, made or to 
 be made, shall be henceforth void and wholly annulled ; so that every 
 mason and carpenter, of what condition that he be, shall be com- 
 pelled by his master to whom he serveth to do every work that to 
 him pertaineth to do ; but it shall be lawful to every lord or other to 
 make bargain or covenant of their work in gross with such labourers 
 or artificers when please them," &c. 
 
 It appears that the rate of daily wages appointed by this statute for 
 the master workmen in these trades was less than that appointed by 
 the former statute (25th Ed. III. c. 2) for the higher class of agri- 
 cultural labourers. By that statute a mower was to take five pence 
 by the day, a reaper two pence or three pence. 
 
Combinations of Workmen. 341 
 
 In 1405, by 7th Hen. IV. c. 1 7, the " good " statutes (viz. the 25th 
 Ed. III. c. 2, and a statute of Richard 11. forbidding labourers in 
 husbandry to use their bows and arrows except on Sundays) were 
 ordained to be kept in all points and put in due execution. 
 
 The 3rd Hen. VI. c. 18 shows an attempt to prevent combinations 
 amongst workmen in the building trades by making it a capital offence 
 to organize such combinations, and subjecting workmen who should 
 take part in them to an indefinite term of imprisonment. The pre- 
 amble to this statute is as follows : — 
 
 "Whereas, by the yearly congregations and confederacies made by 
 the masons in their general chapters, the good course and effect of the 
 statute of labourers be openly violated and broken in subversion of 
 the law, and to the great damage of the commons," &c. ; therefore 
 it was by this statute enacted, that such chapters, &c., should not be 
 thereafter holden ; and, " that if any such be made, that they that 
 cause the same to be holden, being convict, should be adjudged for 
 felons ; and that all other persons that should come to such chapters 
 should be punished by imprisonment and fine," &c. 
 
 It will have been observed that this statute prohibits the com- 
 binations of masons on the ground that they interfered with the 
 operation of the statute of labourers. 
 
 In 1444, the general rate of wages for all ordinary workmen was 
 again fixed by the 23rd Hen. VI. c. 12. 
 
 In 1549 was passed the first statute prohibiting workmen generally 
 from entering into agreements amongst themselves as to the mode in 
 which their work should be conducted. 
 
 The preamble to the 2nd and 3rd Edw. VI. c. 15 is as follows : — 
 
 " Forasmuch as of late divers sellers of victuals, not contented 
 with moderate and reasonable gain, but minding to have so much as 
 list them, have conspired and covenanted together to sell their victuals 
 at unreasonable prices, and likewise artificers, liandicraftsmen, and 
 labourers have made confederacies and promises not only that they 
 should not meddle with one another's work, and perform and finish 
 that one hath begun, but also to constitute and appoint how much 
 work they sliall do in a day, and what hours and times they shall 
 work, contrary to the laws and statutes of this realm, and to the 
 great hurt and impoverishment of the king's revenue," &c. There- 
 fore it enacts (with regard to the workmen) that if any artificers, 
 labourers, &c., should conspire, covenant, or promise together that 
 they should not make nor do tlieir works but at a certain rate, &c. ; 
 or should not work but at certain hours and time, &c., they should 
 forfeit for the first offence £10, or else should suffer for the same 
 offence twenty days' imprisonment ; for the second offence £20, or the 
 pillory ; for the third offence £40, or the pillory, loss of one ear, &c.* 
 
 *It is clear from this statute that the Legislature of 1549 did not consider that 
 combinations of workmen to control their employers in these matters -were offences 
 at common law ; if they had heen, workmen would have been already liable to a 
 much severer punishment than that imposed by this statute. 
 
342 Legislation Relating to 
 
 This section continued to be the only general enactment against 
 associations of workmen for these purposes until 1799. 
 
 By the fourth section it was intended to put a stop to the practice 
 on the part of associations of masons, &c., in different towns, of pre- 
 Tenting other workmen invading their local monopolies ; by it all 
 persons were forbidden " to interrupt, deny, let or disturb any such 
 workmen coming to dwell and work in their towns." 
 
 This attempt on the part of the Legislature to compel workmen to 
 adopt free-trade priuciples, against their own immediate interests, 
 was unsuccessful. The next year the City of London appealed 
 against it, on the ground that it would drive away their craftsmen 
 and artificers, and impoverish the city. By the 3rd and 4th Ed. VI. 
 c. 21 accordingly, this enactment was " utterly made void for ever." 
 
 This last statute may be regarded as an express recognition by the 
 Legislature of the practice of " striking" against strange workmen. It 
 is true that the object for which such exclusion was expressly allowed, 
 was not for the benefit of the workmen themselves, but for that of 
 the towns in which they resided. But it is evident that at this time 
 such a proceeding was not regarded as a criminal offence, either as a 
 conspiracy at common law or even as a conspiracy to obstruct the 
 operation of existing statutes. 
 
 It appears, however, that about this time the Legislature began to 
 consult the interests of the workmen, as well as those of the other 
 classes. By another statute passed in this year, employers in certain 
 trades were forbidden to hire their journeymen for any period less 
 than a quarter of a year ; and ten years afterwards was passed the 
 important statute, viz. 5th Eliz. c. 4, which established an entirely 
 new system for regulating both the price of labour and the manner 
 in which it should be employed in every department of the labour- 
 market. The object and policy of this statute appears from the 
 preamble. It states that : — 
 
 " As the many laws which were then in existence for the rating 
 of wages and regulating the hiring of workmen, although for the 
 most part good, yet could not be fully carried out without the great 
 grief and burden of the poor labourer and hired man ; its object 
 was to reduce the substance of these laws into one, and to prescribe 
 a uniform order concerning the wages and orders of apprentices, 
 servants, and labourers; that thereby idleness might be banished, 
 husbandry advanced, and a convenient proportion of wages yielded 
 to the hired servant both in time of scarcity and in time of plenty." 
 
 This statute is generally known as the statute of apprentices ; 
 its enactments which were most frequently brought into notice being 
 those which made it necessary for every workman to have served an 
 apprenticeship of seven years in that trade in which he sought 
 employment. As employers were restricted in the number of appren- 
 tices which they might employ, these enactments had the effect of 
 securing to the workmen of almost every trade those advantages 
 which in many cases have been the objects of " strikes." 
 
 By the third section it was enacted that the workmen in a great 
 
Combinations of Workmen. 343 
 
 number of trades, including tailors, shoemakers, clotliweavers, cutlers, 
 hatmakers, &c., should not be hired for any term less than one year. 
 
 By the fourth section persons who had worked for three years in 
 any of these trades, and not otherwise privileged, were compelled to 
 accept employment " upon request made by any person using the art 
 or mystery wherein the person so required had been exercised." 
 
 By other sections labourers in husbandry were compelled to work, 
 and rules were laid down as to the mode in which they should be hired. 
 
 By the fifteenth section a most elaborate scheme was established (by 
 the 1st James I. cap. 6, declared to apply to all artificers and work- 
 men whatsoever) by which the wages of labour were to be fixed 
 every year by the justices of the peace at the Easter quarter sessions ; 
 the rate so fixed was to be afterwards published by royal proclama- 
 tion in every market town. 
 
 By the eighteenth section, any master giving more than the legal 
 rate, was subjected to ten days' imprisonment, and a fine of £5. And 
 by the nineteenth, any workman taking higher wages than those 
 appointed, was subjected to imprisonment for twenty-one days. 
 
 This system continued to be part of the statute law until 1813, 
 when it was abolished by the 53rd Geo. III. c. 40 ; but it having 
 been considered to be in the discretion of the magistrates whether 
 they should appoint a rate, so far as regarded the wages of the higher 
 classes of workmen, it seems that in the exercise of this discretion, 
 they had long before that date ceased to fix the wages of any other 
 workmen than those employed in agriculture. 
 
 In 1776, Adam Smith writes as follows with regard to the practice 
 of fixing wages by law : — 
 
 " I shall conclude with observing, that though anciently it was 
 used to rate wages first by general laws extending over the whole 
 kingdom, and afterwards by particular orders of justices of the peace 
 in every particular county, both these practices have now gone 
 entirely into disuse. 
 
 " Whenever the Legislature attempts to regulate the differences 
 between masters and workmen, its counsellors are always the 
 masters."* 
 
 It is probable that the higher classes of workmen, as well as their 
 employers, had, even in the early part of the last century, found it of 
 no advantage to pay any regard to the justices' assessment. 
 
 It appears, however, from the Report of the Journeymen Tailors 
 of Cambridge,, f that in the year 1726, the wages of journeymen 
 tailors had been fixed at 2s. per diem. In the year 1742, Dalton, 
 in his " Country Justice," J recommends that the " Constable's 
 Sessions," which were held for the purpose of appointing the rates 
 of wages for the year under the statute, should be better attended 
 by workmen as well as employers. 
 
 In 1811, certain journeymen millers in Kent presented a petition 
 
 * Wealth of Nations, Book I. cap. x. f 8 Mod. Eep. p. 11. 
 
 t P. 141. 
 
344 Legislation Relating to 
 
 to the justices at Quarter Sessions, stating that their wages were too 
 low, and requesting them to exercise the powers given them by the 
 jBfteenth section of the Statute of Elizabeth, and make a rate of wages. 
 The justices refused to hear the petition. The legality of their re- 
 fusal was afterwards discussed on motion for a writ of mandamus. 
 Lord EUenborough decided that although the power of rating wages 
 given by the Statute of Elizabeth had boon only acted upon with 
 regard to labourers in husbandry, yet that the justices were em- 
 powered to fix the wages of all workmen, by virtue of the 1st James I. 
 c. 6, and the 16th Car. I. c. 4, and accordingly granted a rhle abso- 
 lute for a writ of mandamus to compel the justices to hear the 
 petition, but to exercise their own discretion as to making a rate. 
 It appears that the justices heard the petition, but refused to make 
 the rate.* 
 
 While, then, this system of rating wages continued to be part of 
 the statute law, while masters were liable to ten days' imprisonment 
 for giving wages above the legal rate, and while all workmen were 
 commanded to accept employment when offered them according to 
 the regulations of the statute, no "strike" could take place either 
 for an advance of wages, or for any other purpose, without a direct 
 violation of the statute law ; and any agreement or combination among 
 workmen to control their employers in the conduct of their trade 
 might be regarded as a conspiracy to obstruct or oppose the opera- 
 tion of this statute and other statutes which were passed for the 
 purpose of regulating the employment of labour in particular 
 trades. 
 
 But during the last century, manufacturing trades began to assume 
 a very different character to that which they bore at the time of the 
 Statute of Elizabeth, and previously. Instead of a master and .a 
 few apprentices and journeymen standing in an intimate relation to 
 each other, an establishment now began to consist of a capitalist and 
 a vast number of workmen, connected with each other only by short 
 hirings, and opposed to each other by their many conflicting in- 
 terests. This state of things necessarily both induced and enabled 
 workmen more than ever to associate together for the purposes of 
 protecting or advancing their interests against those of their employ- 
 ers, which at the same time an advance in knowledge and intelli- 
 gence rendered them more capable of ascertaining. It appears, then, 
 that when combinations of workmen became more frequent and 
 more imp>ortant, whatever power the criminal court might already 
 possess to deal with such proceedings, it was thought either too un- 
 certain or too dilatory for the nature of the subject; and accordingly, 
 as "strikes" occurred in particular trades, the Legislature was called 
 upon to apply some more effectual remedy. Thus, many statutes 
 were passed during the last century for the protection of the employ- 
 ers in different trades. These statutes, generally called the "com- 
 bination laws," prohibited all agreements or associations of workmen 
 
 * R. V. Justices of Kent, 14 East, 395. 
 
Combinations of Workmen. 345 
 
 for the purpose of advancing wages, or controlling their masters in 
 the management and regulation of their business, and empowered the 
 magistrate to convict summarily, and punish with imprisonment for 
 two or three months, any workman who should take part in them. 
 
 In the second section of the present statute, by which they are 
 repealed, these statutes and enactments are enumerated. They 
 differed from each other in little more than the denomination of 
 workmen against whom they were directed; while it might be 
 inferred from this piecemeal legislation, that combination was a 
 greater offence in some trades than in others, and in some trades no 
 offence at all. 
 
 At the commencement of the present century, however, the Legis- 
 lature had not only discovered that strikes were common to almost 
 every trade, but had also become thoroughly acquainted with the 
 different purposes for which they were employed, and the manner in 
 which they were conducted and supported. Accordingly, in the 
 year 1800, a statute (40th Geo. III. c. 106) was directed against all 
 associations of workmen for any of these purposes. 
 
 By the first section of this statute all agreements between journey- 
 men and workmen for obtaining an advance of wages for themselves 
 or other workmen, or for lessenii% the hours of work, or for pre- 
 venting or hindering any person from employing whomsoever he 
 should think proper to employ, or for controlling or in any way 
 affecting any person carrying on any manufacture in the conduct or 
 management thereof, were thereby made and declared to be illegal. 
 
 By the second section, one justice of the peace was empowered to 
 convict summarily, and impose two months' imprisonment upon work- 
 men who should enter into any such agreement. 
 
 . By the third section, the same punishment was imposed upon 
 workmen who should by giving money, or by persuasion, solicitation, 
 or intimidation, or any other means wilfully and maliciously endea- 
 vour to prevent any unhired workman from hiring himself, or hired 
 workman from continuing in his employ, or who should prevent any 
 master from employing such workman as he should think proper, or 
 who being hired should without any just cause refuse to work with 
 any other journeyman or workman. 
 
 By other sections, further provisions were made with regard to the 
 funds obtained by workmen to support them during their " strikes." 
 
 This elaborate attempt on the part of the Legislature to prevent 
 "strikes" was its last. Experience soon showed that such laws 
 were not only useless, but pernicious. . . . 
 
 It was not, however, until 1824 that the combination laws were 
 repealed. In that year a Committee of the House of Commons was 
 appointed to consider the laws relating to workmen and artisans. 
 They returned the following report with reference to this part of 
 the subject : — 
 
 (1.) " That it appears by the evidence before the committee, that 
 combinations of workmen have taken place in England, Scotland, 
 and Ireland, often to a great extent, to raise and keep up their wages, 
 
346 Legislation Relating to 
 
 to regulate their hours of working, and to impose restrictions on 
 their masters respecting apprentices or others wliom they might 
 think proper to employ ; and that at the time the evidence was taken, 
 combinations were in existence, attended with strikes or suspension 
 of work ; and the laws have not hitherto been effectual to prevent 
 such combinations. 
 
 (2.) " That serious breaches of the peace, and acts of violence, with 
 strikes of the workmen, often for very long periods, have taken place 
 in consequence of and arising out of the combinations of workmen, 
 and have been attended with loss to both masters and workmen, and 
 with considerable inconvenience and injury to the community. 
 
 (3.) " That the masters have often combined to lower the rates of 
 their workmen's wages, as well to resist a demand for an increase, 
 and to regulate their hours of working, and sometimes to discharge 
 their workmen, who would not consent to the conditions offered to 
 them, which have been followed by susj)ension of work, riotous pro- 
 ceedings, and acts of violence. 
 
 (4.) "That prosecutions have frequently been carried on under the 
 statute and common law against the workmen, and many of them 
 have suffered different periods of imprisonment for combining and 
 conspiring to raise their wages, er to resist their reduction, and to 
 regulate their hours of working. 
 
 (5.)" That several instances have been stated to the committee, of 
 prosecutions against masters for combining to lower wages, and to 
 regulate the hours of working, but no instance has been adduced of 
 any master having been p)unished for that offence. 
 
 (6.) "That the laws have not only not been efficient to prevent 
 combinations either of masters or workmen, but on the contrary 
 have, in the opinion of many of both parties, had a tendency to pro- 
 duce mutual irritation and distrust, and to give a violent character 
 to the combinations, and to render them highly dangerous to the 
 peace of the community. 
 
 (7.) " That it is the opinion of this committee that masters and 
 workmen should be freed from such restrictions as regards the rate 
 of wages, and hours of working, and left at perfect liberty to make 
 such agreements as they may mutually think proper. 
 
 (8.) " That therefore the statute laws that interfere in this par- 
 ticular should be repealed ; and also the common laiv, under which 
 a peaceable meeting of masters or workmen may he prosecuted as a 
 conspiracy, should be altered. 
 
 (9.) " That the committee regret to find from the evidence that 
 societies, legally enrolled as benefit societies, have been frequently 
 made the cloak under which funds have been raised for the support 
 of combinations and strikes attended with acts of violence or intimida- 
 tion ; and without recommending any specific course, they wish to 
 call the attention of the House to the frequent perversion of these 
 institutions from their avowed and legitimate objects. 
 
 (10.) " That the practice of settling disputes by arbitration between 
 masters and workmen has been attended with good effects ; and it is 
 
Combinations of Workmen. 347 
 
 desirable that the laws which direct and regulate arbitration should 
 be consolidated, amended, and made applicable to all trades. 
 
 (H.) " That it is absolutely necessary, when repealing the combi- 
 nation laws, to enact such a law as may efficiently, and by summary 
 process, punish either workmen or masters who by threat, intimida- 
 tion, or acts of violence, should interfere with the perfect freedom 
 which ought to be allowed to each party, of employing his labour or 
 capital in the manner he may deem most advantageous."* 
 
 The 5th G-eo. IV. c. 95 is very important as showing the policy 
 and effect of the present statute (6th Geo. IV. c. 129), which was 
 substituted for it in the following year, and which was stated to 
 have been framed on the same principle. The preamble to the 5th 
 G-eo. rV. cap. 95, is as follows : — ■ 
 
 " Whereas, it is expedient that the laws relative to the combina- 
 tions of workmen, and to the fixing of the wages of labour, should 
 be repealed, and certain combinations of workmen should be exempted 
 from punishment, and that the attempt to deter workmen from work 
 should be punished in a summary manner, Therefore," &c. 
 
 By the first section all the statutes against combinations of work- 
 man are repealed. 
 
 By the second section it was enacted, — That journeymen, work- 
 men, or other persons, who should enter into any combination to 
 obtain an advance, or to fix the rate of wages, or to lessen or alter the 
 hours or duration of time of working, or to decrease the quantity of 
 work, or to induce another to depart from his service before the end 
 of the time or term for which he was hired, or to quit or return his 
 work before the same should be finished, or, not being hired, to refuse 
 to enter into work or employment, or to regulate the mode of carry- 
 ing on any manufacture, trade, or business, or the management 
 thereof, should not therefore be subject or liable to any indictment 
 or prosecution for conspiracy, or to any other criminal information 
 or punishment whatever under the statute law. 
 
 By the third section it was enacted, — That if any person, by vio- 
 lence to the person or property, by threat or by intimidation, should 
 wilfully or maliciously force another to depart from his hiring or 
 work before the end of the time or term for which he is hired, or 
 return his work before the same should be finished, or damnify, spoil, 
 or destroy any machinery, or prevent any person not being hired 
 from accepting any work or employment : or if any person should 
 wilfully or maliciously use or employ violence towards the person or 
 property, threats or intimidation towards another on account of his 
 not complying with, or conforming to, any rules, orders, resolutions, 
 or regulations made to obtain an advance of wages, or to lessen or 
 alter the hours of working, or to decrease the quantity of work, or 
 to regulate the mode of carrying on any manufacture, trade, or busi- 
 ness, or the management thereof, or if any person by violence, &c., 
 should wilfully or maliciously force any master or mistress, manufac- 
 
 « See Pari. Deb. N.S. vol. xi. p. 811. 
 
348 Legislation Relating to 
 
 turer, his or her foremau or agent, to make any alterations in their 
 mode of regulating, managing, conducting, or carrying on their 
 manufacture, trade, or business : Every person so offending, or caus- 
 ing, procuring, aiding, abetting or assisting in such offence, being 
 convicted thereof in manner thereinafter mentioned, should be im- 
 prisoned only, or imprisoned and kept to hard labour, for any time 
 not exceeding two calendar months. 
 
 The language of this statute clearly showed its object and policy. 
 It was the intention of the Legislature to relieve workmen from 
 all liability to punishment for merely engaging in combinations or 
 strikes, such liability having been considered to be the cause of those 
 outrages and violent proceedings which workmen had so often re- 
 sorted to when disputes arose, either between them and their mas- 
 ters, or between them and their fellow-Avorkmen. Accordingly, 
 notwithstanding the statement in the preamble, that it was the 
 object of the statute to prevent workmen deterring other workmen 
 from work, they are yet expressly permitted, by the second section, 
 to enter into combinations to induce others to depart from their ser- 
 vice, &c., or to refuse to enter into work, &c. The object of the 
 insertion of this clause must have been to allow workmen to " strike 
 against " other workmen, rather than that they should " deter them 
 from work " by the employment of those means to prevent which 
 summary powers of punishment were given to the magistrates by 
 the third section. 
 
 No sooner, however, had the Legislature changed its policy and 
 removed those prohibitions to which associations of workmen had 
 formerly been subjected, than " strikes" on a large scale, and obsti- 
 nately conducted, immediately occurred in various parts of the 
 country. Workmen seemed, as it were, to take the hint given 
 them, and to indulge freely in the exercise of their new jsowers. 
 The Legislature was terrified at what seemed to be the consequence 
 of their own act, and the following year it again took the subject into 
 consideration, now become a more difficult subject for legislation 
 than ever. At first it seemed almost inclined to go back to the 
 policy of former times, and to re-enact the old combination laws. 
 But towards the end of the session the panic had subsided. The 
 liberal policy of the preceding year survived the trial, and all parties 
 were contented with a reproduction of the statute of that year, with 
 some alterations in its shape and intended effect. 
 
 Mr. Wallace, who introduced the bill, thus states in what manner 
 and to what extent the present statute (6th Geo. IV. c. 129) was 
 intended to differ in its effect from the 5tli Geo. IV. c. 95 : — 
 
 " He was no friend to the combination laws; but he wished that 
 the common law as it stood before should be again brought into 
 force ; this he believed would be quite sufficient for the purpose. 
 — The principle of the bill now before the House was to make 
 all associations illegal, excepting those for the purpose of settling 
 such amount of wages as would be a fair remuneration for the work- 
 men. He knew it had been objected that this was not enough, but 
 
Combinations of JVorkme7i. 349 
 
 he thought it was safer to point out the description of association 
 that was legal than to specify all which were illegal, in doing which 
 there was great danger either of putting in too much, or of leaving 
 out something which might be necessary. The bill of last year was 
 the same in principle as this ; but it went a little further, and this, 
 he apprehended, was the cause of the inconvenience now universally 
 felt." * 
 
 The preamble to the present statute is as follows : — 
 (1.) " Whereas an act was passed in the last session of Parliament, 
 intituled, &c., by which act various statutes and parts of statutes 
 relating to combinations among workmen for fixing the wages of 
 labour, and for regulating or controlling the mode of carrying on 
 any manufacture, &c., were repealed, &c., and whereas the provi- 
 sions of the said act have not been found effectual : (2.) and whereas 
 such combinations are injurious to trade and commerce, dangerous 
 to the tranquillity of the country, and especially prejudicial to the 
 interests of all who are concerned in them : (3.) and whereas it is 
 expedient to make further provision, as well for the security and 
 personal freedom of individual workmen in the disposal of their 
 skill and labour, as for the security of the property and persons of 
 masters and employers, and for that purpose to repeal the said act, 
 and to enact other provisions and regulations in lieu thereof: be 
 it therefore enacted," &c. 
 
 By the first section, the 5th Geo. IV. c. 95 is repealed. 
 By the second section is re-enacted that section of the former act 
 by which all the statutes against combinations of workmen were 
 repealed. 
 
 The third, fourth, and fifth sections are as follows : 
 III. " And be it further enacted that from and after the passing 
 of this act, (1.) if any person shall by violence to the person or pro- 
 perty, or by threats, or by intimidation, or by molesting, or in any 
 way obstructing another, force or endeavour to force any journey- 
 man, manufacturer, workman, or other person hired or employed in 
 any manufacture, trade, or business, to depart from his hiring, em- 
 ployment, or work, or to return his work before the same shall be 
 finished; or prevent or endeavour to prevent any journeyman, &c., 
 not being hired or employed, from hiring himself to or from accept- 
 ing work or employment from any person or persons ; or (2.) if any 
 person shall use or employ violence to the person or property of 
 another, or threats or intimidation, or shall molest or in any way 
 obstruct another for the purpose of forcing or inducing such person 
 to belong to any club or association, or to contribute to any common 
 fund, or to pay any fine or penalty, or on account of his not belong- 
 ing to any particular club or association, or not having contributed, 
 or having refused to contribute to any common fund, or to pay any 
 fine or penalty, or on account of his not having complied, or of his 
 refusing to comply with rules, orders, resolutions, or regulations 
 
 * See Pari. Deb. N.S., vol. xiii. p. 1400. 
 
350 Legislation Relating to Combinations of Workmen. 
 
 made to obtain an advance or to reduce the rate of wages, or to 
 lessen or alter the hours of working, or to decrease or alter the 
 quantity of work, or to regulate the mode of carrying on any manu- 
 facture, trade, or business, or the management thereof: or (3.) if 
 any person shall by violence to the person or property of another, or 
 by threats or iiitimidation, or by molesting, or in any way obstruct- 
 ing another, force or endeavour to force any manufacturer or 
 person carrying on any trade or business, to make any alteration in 
 his mode of regulating , managing, conducting, or carrying on such 
 manufacture, trade, or business, or to limit the number of his ap- 
 prentices, or the number or description of Ms journeymen, workmen, 
 or servants : every person so offending, or aiding, abetting, or assist- 
 ing therein, being convicted thereof in manner hereinafter mentioned, 
 shall be imprisoned only, or shall and may be imprisoned, and kept to 
 hard labour, for any time not exceeding three calendar months. 
 
 IV. " Provided always, and be it enacted that this act shall not 
 extend to subject any persons to punishment, who shall meet toge- 
 ther for the sole purpose of consulting upon and determining the 
 rate of wages or prices, which the persons present at such meeting 
 or any of them shall require or demand for his or their work, or 
 the hours or time for which he or they shall work in any manufac- 
 ture, trade, or business, or who shall enter into any agreement, 
 verbal or written, amongst themselves for the purpose of fixing the 
 rate of wages or prices which the parties entering into such agree- 
 ment, or any of them, shall require or demand for his or their work, 
 or the hours of time for which he or they will work in any manu- 
 facture, trade, or business ; and that persons so meeting for the pur- 
 poses aforesaid, or entering into any such agreement as aforesaid, 
 shall not be liable to any prosecution or penalty for so doing, any 
 law or statute to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 V. " Provided also, and be it further enacted that this act shall 
 not extend to subject any persons to punishment who shall meet 
 together for the sole purpose of consulting upon and determining 
 the rate of wages or prices which the persons present at such meet- 
 ing or any of them shall pay to his or their journeymen or workmen 
 for their work, or the hours or time of working in any manufacture, 
 trade, or business, or who shall enter into any agreement, verbal or 
 written, among themselves for the purpose of fixing the rate of 
 wages or prices which the parties entering into such agreement or 
 any of them shall pay to his or their journeymen, workmen, or ser- 
 vants, for their work or the hours or time of working in any manu- 
 facture, trade, or business ; and that persons so meeting for the pur- 
 poses aforesaid or entering into any such agreement as aforesaid shall 
 not be liable to any prosecution or penalty for so doing, any law or 
 statute to the contrary notwithstanding." 
 
 By the other sections of the statute, one justice of the peace is 
 empowered to exercise the summary jurisdiction given by the act, 
 and other provisions are made as to witnesses, &c. 
 
ABSTRACT 
 
 OF 
 
 THE MINUTES OF EVIDENCE 
 
 THE COMBINATION LAWS, 
 
 TAKEN BEFOEE A 
 
 SELECT COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS HST 1824. 
 
 PKEPAKED FOE 
 
 Kip TSatiaraH a3S0ctattan for tije ^tomotinit nE Sotial Science, 
 
 AT THE BEQUEST OP THE COMMITTEE ON TEADES' SOCIETIES. 
 
 Bt PHILIP H. EATHBONE. 
 
 The circumstances under which the House of Commons appointed, 
 in 1824 a Select Committee "to inquire into the state of the law 
 in the United Kingdom, and its consequences respecting artisans 
 leaving the Kingdom, and residing abroad ; also into the law and its 
 consequences respecting the exportation of tools and machinery ; 
 and into the state of the law and its effects, so far as relates to the 
 combination of workmen and others to raise wages, or to regulate 
 their wages," are stated in the " Sketch of the History of Legislation 
 in England respecting Combinations," which has been reprinted 
 by permission of the author, from Mr. Longe's " Inquiry into the Law 
 of ' Strikes.' " The results of the inquiry are also there exhibited. 
 
 The following paper contains a digest of the evidence, so far as it 
 bore on the Combination Laws taken before the committee, such 
 parts of it only being omitted as it has been found convenient to 
 incorporate in other reports. 
 
 The witnesses examined included representatives of, or persons 
 in some way or other connected with, the following Trades. 
 
 ENGINEERS AND MACHINE MAKERS. 
 
 In this trade, as in others, the number of apprentices whom a 
 master might rightfully take was a matter of dispute between em- 
 ployers and their workmen. Men brought up to ordinary machine- 
 making were not allowed to work at the machinery required in 
 the cotton trade, and a Manchester engineer and machine-maker 
 explained that he felt it useless to oppose the wishes of the men 
 with regard to engaging competent workmen who had been brought 
 up to a nominally different occupation. An engineer who employed 
 from 1000 to 1,500 men invariably required every man to sign an 
 agreement to work on trial for a fortnight. At the end of that time 
 he offered the man the wages which he considered him to be worth, and 
 if the latter thought them too low, he had the option of declining to en- 
 
352 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1824. 
 
 gage liimself. " It has been the practice," says the employer in question, 
 " in every carpenter's or joiner's shop " (he is speaking of pattern 
 makers) '" to pay every man 30*. per week, whether good, bad, or 
 indifferent; they wanted to carry this same system into our employ, 
 but we would not act upon it ; whereas I have some carpenters that 
 I give two guineas a week to, others 36s., others 33s., and so on, and 
 others even below what an ordinary carpenter gains. We have 
 found, therefore, that those men have never attempted, in our manu- 
 factories, to conspire ; for every man is impressed with the idea that 
 the moment he can work better and quicker, he will have his wages 
 increased, and I have frequently six or seven applications on a 
 Saturday for increased wages, as by their attention and good conduct 
 they become more valuable, and expect to be compensated accord- 
 ingly. All that is necessary is to have a law obliging parties to do 
 that which they agree to do." The results of this system are finally 
 summed up thus : " We have not had in twelve years one single dis- 
 pute, although I have employed 1000 to 1,500 men in that period." 
 Another witness gave evidence tending the same way, but the method 
 which he took to break up the old system of uniform wages was 
 different. He first went to the cleverest men in his employ and told 
 them they were worth more wages than they asked, and raised their 
 w^ages; then, and not till then, he reduced the inferior workmen. The 
 employer first referred to says : "In all those manufactories where 
 the wages are the same, it is no uncommon thing for a man to 
 receive from his master double the wages he has earned. But in 
 engineer shops, new men's wages are generally fixed after working 
 a fortnight on trial : we give as much as we can afford to the most 
 expert men, and thus bring down their reward upon that standard ; 
 but in the business of a millwright, all the men have two guineas 
 a week, and a man of that class was formerly employed to turn a 
 grindstone, while one at 18s. a week would have done as well. The 
 consequence is that engineers have become millwrights, and we make 
 our machines so much better, and so much cheaper, that the trade 
 who used to scoff and spurn at the name of engineer are obliged 
 to take up the name and conduct this business by the engineers' 
 economy." It was mentioned that in many cases provisions were 
 rendered much dearer to the workmen than they otherwise would 
 have been, owing to the larger profit required to cover the credit 
 rendered necessary by the uncertainty involved in strikes. The 
 Combination Laws did not prevent different trades aiding each other; 
 for example, the Newcastle colliers had assisted the Manchester 
 machine-makers. In one instance a combination had been suppressed 
 by appeal to the laws. Though not approving of combination either 
 among masters or men, few, if any, of the employers objected to the 
 repeal of legal prohibition. One of them indeed frankly declared 
 his belief that such repeal would be of the greatest benefit to both 
 parties. The improved character of the men during the last twenty 
 years, and the diminution of drinking habits among them, were 
 strongly asserted. 
 
Tailors — Printers — Hatters. 353 
 
 LONDON TRADES :— TAILORS, HATTERS, SHOE- 
 MAKERS, CARPENTERS, AND BUILDERS. 
 
 1. Tailors. — Of the unions in these trades, the Tailors' was as- 
 serted to be much the most powerful. Journeymen were divided into 
 two classes, named respectively '• Flints " and " Dungs." Flints were 
 those who were paid a uniform rate of wages by the day ; and Dungs 
 those who were paid sometimes by piecework and sometimes by day- 
 work. The former class was about four times as numerous as the latter. 
 A Flint's day's work was, however, practically piecework, a certain 
 stated quantity being given out to be finished within the day. The 
 Flints had more than twenty houses of call, each of which elected a de- 
 legate, and these delegates chose four others. The four were technically 
 called the Town, and possessed almost unlimited power of ordering 
 strikes. The whole body never discussed the propriety of a strike 
 through fear of the Combination Laws. The Town' announced the rate 
 of wages to be accepted by the men, who implicitly obeyed. As in 
 their struggles the men were generally successful, it may be inferred 
 that the Town used its power with considerable discretion. In the 
 other trades a strike was a very difficult thing to accomplish; the work- 
 men disliked having recourse to it; and the women (being the greatest 
 sufferers) always used their utmost influence to prevent it. 
 
 An entire want of confidence, and a disposition towards mutual 
 annoyance, were said to characterize the relations of masters and 
 journeymen tailors. 
 
 2. Printers. — Among the printers a much healthier and more 
 cordial feeling prevailed. This was due to the fact of the masters 
 having stated to the men in 1816 that they had come to the deter- 
 mination under no circumstances to avail themselves of the Com- 
 bination Laws. This resolution was communicated at a time when 
 a difference had arisen as to wages. The result was a compromise, 
 which eventually satisfied both parties. In this trade more soreness 
 existed on the masters' side from the limitation of apprentices than 
 from disputes about wages. 
 
 3. Hatters. — The following particulars were stated with respect to 
 the trade of hatters. Journeymen hatters were divided into " fair " men 
 and " foul " men ; " fair" men were those who had served seven years' 
 apprenticeship in a fair shop, i.e. one in which there were no more 
 than two apprentices. Shops in which this number was exceeded 
 were denominated " foul." The fair men of London subscribing to 
 the club were variously estimated at from 600 to 900. A tramp who 
 arrived in London with a " blank," or certificate, from any of the 
 societies of the different towns of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 
 in correspondence with the London club, received 5*., a bed for three 
 nights, and two pints of beer. In other towns assistance was given 
 to a " blank" holder in proportion to the size of the place. If a 
 man left his work unfinished, or injured his master, he was fined by 
 his union. Offences against the laws of the club were also punished 
 by fines, which ranged from one guinea up to ten guineas. If they 
 
 A A 
 
354 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1824. 
 
 were not promptly paid, the man was discharged. As no man could 
 obtain work in a fair shop through the three kingdoms, without pre- 
 senting a travelling blank, and as the foul shops were not more 
 than one in twenty, and the wages in them were lower, the power of 
 the society was very great — " so great" indeed that an instance was men- 
 tioned where an apprentice, having " served foul " was obliged to serve 
 over again. As the number of apprentices was irrespective of the 
 number of workmen employed in each house, the stock of workmen 
 was kept up by the little masters spread over the country. A little 
 master had often work for no more than two apprentices and himself. 
 The men appear, as a rule, to have been wholly or partially success- 
 ful in their strikes. 
 
 There was an exception in 1820, when a change in the shape of 
 hats, which then came into fashion, led to a strike ; the masters on that 
 occasion prosecuted twenty-four of the men under the Combination 
 Laws. Much bitterness of feeling was the result of this step. In 
 1794, previous to the passing of the Combination Laws, a strike for an 
 advance took place and was successful. In 1802, a strike against 
 unfair men failed. In 1810, a strike for an advance was successful. 
 In 1817, a strike for an advance was compromised, and after the 
 strike already alluded to most of the masters gave the wages asked. 
 In none of these disputes does there appear to have been any violence 
 or intimidation. The masters did not stick together nearly so well as 
 the men. This circumstance, together with the fact that the men 
 generally chose spring as the time to turn out, gave the latter a 
 great advantage. The wages in the brisk months of the year appear 
 to have ranged from 5Qs. to £3 a week gross, and to have been 
 about 42s. and upwards per week net, after deducting what was pay- 
 able for picking, which was an extra expense, except when a man had 
 'a wife to do it for him. The payment was by piecework. Wages 
 in the flat months were estimated by one witness to be about 25s. gross. 
 
 4. Boot and Shoemakers. — The boot and shoemakers of London 
 formed four distinct associations : men's bootmakers in the City, 
 numbering about 600 members, and in Westminster, numbering from 
 700 to 800 ; and women's shoemakers of the East and West Ends 
 respectively. The number of shoemakers who did not belong to the 
 London and Westminster clubs was estimated at from 5000 to 6000, 
 so that the club men were in a considerable minority. These asso- 
 ciations were in correspondence with seventy or eighty others in dif- 
 ferent parts of the kingdom. Each association was , divided into 
 four or five " shops' meetings," who each sent delegates. 
 
 The average weekly earnings were set down by one witness as about 
 26*., payment being by piecework ; but at the West-end wages were 
 somewhat higher than at the East. The chief feature in the evidence 
 concerning this trade was the tyrannical use apparently made of the 
 Combination Laws by the masters, although they appear to have had 
 meetings regularly once a month themselves, la one case a master 
 answered a summons for payment of work already done by a summons 
 under the Combination Laws ; in another, an employer called nineteen 
 
The Cotton Trade, Glasgow. 355 
 
 of his men together, detained them under pretence of sending out for 
 beer, and sent for twenty -four officers to take them into custody. They 
 were sentenced to a month's imprisonment and a fine of £1 Is. each. 
 There was no violence or intimidation, and the men throughout were 
 perfectly quiet and orderly, as indeed appears to have been always 
 the case in disputes between master and men in this trade. There 
 was in this trade no express stipulation as to the number of appren- 
 tices a master might take, but had an extravagant number been taken, 
 the men would have objected. The men themselves might take only 
 one each. 
 
 5. Carpenters. — The carpenters of London formed four different 
 societies, numbering altogether about 2,500 members. These socie- 
 ties insured tools from loss by fire or thieves, and allowed £5 burial 
 money ; but there was no allowance for sickness or loss of employ- 
 ment, men in want owing to either cause being supported by voluntary 
 contributions. This trade had no " strikes," only " stands," which, 
 however, appear to have come to exactly the same thing. In 1800, 
 wages were from 20s. to 22s. per week; they then rose gradually 
 to about 26s. or 27*. in 1810, in which year there was a strike for 
 As. per week, which lasted five weeks, and was successful. In 1816 
 there was another strike of fourteen weeks, to resist a reduction of 2>s. 
 per week, in which the men had to give in ; but in 1818 they recovered 
 2s. of it without a " stand," although the masters had resolved to 
 refuse: some of them began to give the wages demanded, together 
 with a present of 2s. to each man. The common complaint that the 
 masters were not as true to each other as the men, was urged by one 
 witness. The strikes in this trade do not appear to have been so free 
 from violence as those of the shoemakers and hatters, and intimida- 
 tion and destruction of tools seem to have prevailed to some extent. 
 Three men were sentenced to one month's imprisonment, and two 
 to twelve months, under the Combination Laws, in 1816 ; but it ap- 
 peared on examination that some amount of violence had been used. 
 On the other hand, the almost singular case occurred in this trade of 
 the men prosecuting the masters for combination, in which they failed, 
 though their counsel considered that they had been dealt so unfairly 
 by, their case being fully proved, that he felt himself bound to 
 return his fee. The masters examined, while objecting to the Com- 
 bination Laws, were extremely anxious for ' stringent laws giving 
 summary power to enforce the finishing of work half-done, and to 
 provide for the fulfilling of contracts. 
 
 The general character of the men in the London trades was 
 stated to have much improved during the previous twenty years, and 
 drinking was stated to have decreased to a great extent. 
 
 THE COTTON TRADE, GLASGOW. 
 
 The operatives engaged in the cotton trade belong to two very dif- 
 ferent bodies, the spinners and the weavers. In 1824 a large pro- 
 portion of the weaving was still carried on by hand-looms, but power- 
 
 aa2 
 
356 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1824. 
 
 looms were rapidly superseding them, the latter being worked 
 almost entirely by women. The Scotch weavers in 1809 applied 
 to Parliament, in conjunction with those of Lancashire, for a bill to 
 limit the number of apprentices, and fix a term of apprenticeship. 
 In 1811, they made a similar attempt alone, and in both cases com- 
 mittees of the House of Commons were appointed, and gave the 
 matter careful attention; but the application was rejected, though 
 Mr. Whitbread gave his support to the movement. Upon this 
 failure the operatives turned their attention to certain old laws, 
 empowering justices of the peace to fix the rates of wages. They 
 called upon the Sheriff of Lanarkshire, in conjunction with the 
 magistrates of Glasgow, to call a meeting of the trade for the purpose 
 of appointing two committees, one of masters and one of men, who 
 were accordingly appointed, and after many discussions came to no 
 result, the masters refusing to recognise in any way the principle of 
 fixing wages. 
 
 The operatives then had recourse to proceedings under some old 
 Acts of Parliament, passed previous to the Union, but confirmed in 
 the reign of George II. The masters disputed the relevancy of the 
 acts, and competency of the Court; but finally both were affirmed 
 by the Court of Session, to whom appeal was made, and the case was 
 remitted back to the Quarter Session, for the judges to go into its 
 merits. One hundred and thirty witnesses were examined, besides 
 the masters and workmen of ten other trades, including blacksmiths, 
 shoemakers, common labourers, &c., whose wages, ranging from a 
 minimiun of \2s. per week, up to 2os. per week, gave an average of 
 18*. '^\d. A statement was at last come to, giving 13s. 9d. per week 
 as an average, the maximum being 28s. &d., and the minimum 8s. The 
 masters refused to bring any counter evidence, and eventually repu- 
 diated the decision of the justices; — while the operatives' counsel hav- 
 ing, apparently in deference to the wishes of the Court, withdrawn 
 the imperative part of the prayer, the decision became merely decla- 
 ratory and not binding. The action continued from January, 1812, to 
 November, on the 10th of which the final decision was given ; and a 
 week after, about 30,000 looms struck in one day, and 10,000 fol- 
 lowed soon after. The men were out six weeks. The strike appears 
 to have been extremely peaceable, except that a few webs were 
 destroyed, either by sharp instruments or by vitriol, and parts of 
 some of the looms were concealed, so as to render them, for the time 
 being, useless. The authorities interfered, and prosecuted the 
 leaders of the strike, in consequence of which, as the operatives be- 
 lieved, they were obliged to give in. This practically broke up the 
 association, and the wages sank at different periods excessively low. 
 The rate in 1824, the time of this inquiry, was from about 8s. to 
 10s. per week, on an average. The character of the men appears to 
 have been always good, being peaceable and moral. 
 
 The combinations of the spinners were, however, of a very different 
 character. Owing to their being congregated in large numbers in 
 the different factories, the spinners had much better opportunities of 
 
The Cotton Trade, Glasgow. 357 
 
 combining than the hand-loom weavers. Their wages were very good, 
 being on an average above 30s. per weelt, in 1824. They began to 
 combine in 1806, and about 1810 their combination took a serious 
 form, on which occasion the masters stopped all their mills and 
 would not re-admit any of the operatives without their signing a 
 declaration that they would not be concerned in any illegal combina- 
 tion, and would not interfere with their employers as to whom they 
 should employ. From 1810 to 1816 the Union was quiet, but in the 
 last-named year a revival of agitation was perceptible, and in 1819, 
 1820, and 1823 a series of outrages was committed of the most brutal 
 and atrocious character. A great number of threatening letters are 
 quoted in the report, of which the following extract will give some 
 idea : — 
 
 "AugwtWi, 1823. 
 " We have given you long enough time to gether money to pay your 
 expenses back agian to Belfast, therefore, we hope you will lave the 
 wheels that you are on at presant to men that have a better right to 
 them than you, on Monday first, and if you do not atten to this, will 
 sarve you like Linzie Phillips. 
 
 " This we swaer by the living God. 
 
 " Signed by the Captain of the Blood Eed Knights.'' 
 
 (Then the representation of a hand holding a sword with a pierced 
 heart, two pistols, a coffin, &c., with death's head and cross bones.) 
 
 Another of the letters is signed " Captain of the Vitriol Forces." 
 
 A third is dated " nine miles below hell." Others contain allusions 
 to the judgment-seat of Christ and other sacred things, mingling- 
 the most disgusting profanity with the most revolting atrocity. 
 
 Another is a demand by Mr. Houldsworth's operatives that, as Mr. 
 Dyson and James Fisher are too vigilant, they shall be reprimanded 
 before the men ; and that Mr. Russell shall be discharged, " being no 
 judge of his business:" and also that J. McKenzie Phillips may not 
 be admitted in future. This Phillips was subsequently " vitrioled," 
 his face burnt in places to the bone, and the sight of one eye- 
 destroyed. 
 
 Nor were others of these letters mere empty threats. Several 
 mills were set fire to: one manufacturer, writing in 1821 from- 
 Paisley, said that scarcely a night passed in Johnston without shots 
 being discharged ; and the lowest depths of cowardly brutality were 
 reached, in vitriol-throwing and woman-beating. The manufacturers 
 struggled against this system of terrorism. One manufacturer, Mr. 
 Orr, built houses for his workpeople and set a guiird over them, not- 
 withstanding which, shots were fired into the works; and one night, 
 on the eve of his marriage, he was told he was wanted, and on 
 inquiring at the door " who was there ?" two or three pistol-shots 
 were fired at him, which, fortunately, owing to his shadow having 
 deceived the assailants, did not reach him. Tired of quarreling 
 with his men, one of the manufacturers hired women, and built a mill 
 with machinery specially adapted to them ; but the women were beaten, 
 
358 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1824. 
 
 and one old woman so severely that she died three days afterwards. 
 The same manufacturer armed all his men with pistols and cutlasses, 
 which enabled them to go to and from their work with comparative 
 safety. Finally he bought a factory in America and sent his son 
 out to superintend it, who built another there; but the radical dis- 
 turbances seem also to have hastened his resolution to do so. It may 
 be as well to cite one case of vitriol-throwing as a specimen. 
 
 Alexander Fisher was shot at when in bed about one o'clock, Aug. 
 2nd, 1820 ; the shot lodged near the bed, and some of the glass was 
 driven into the children's bed. He was again shot at on the 16th of 
 September, about two o'clock in the morning. On the 29th of Novem- 
 ber, two men waylaid him on his way to work at six o'clock in the 
 morning, and threw a quantity of vitriol over his face and breast, 
 which burnt him dreadfully. On the 14th of December, he, having 
 only just attempted to resume work, was again shot at while at the 
 mill. On the 4th of January he was still without the use of his left 
 eye. This man had a large family dependent on him. It would be 
 needlessly painful to go into any further instances, as great sameness 
 runs through all of them, but their frequency was perfectly appalling. 
 Of course the organization of the Union was kept very secret, and 
 therefore no information could be gained concerning it. Large rewards 
 were offered for the conviction of the offenders, but without result, and 
 a proclamation was issued requesting the chemists to take the name, 
 and note the person, of any operative buying vitriol. The masters 
 asserted that the Society kept wages 25 per cent, above the market 
 value. It is right to remark that two operatives who were examined 
 placed the wages at 2Qs. instead of 30*., and entirely repudiated the 
 notion that the unions had anything to do with the outrages ; but the 
 systematic character of these offences renders it extremely improbable 
 that they were all isolated crimes. It must not, however, be inferred 
 that the whole body of men Avere of so bad a character as these atro- 
 cities would lead one to infer ; they were described by one of the mas- 
 ters as " the great mass of them men of good moral dispositions and 
 good moral conduct, but . . . controlled by others of restless and 
 dissipated characters." And it was stated that it was when wages 
 were high, and not when they were low, that combinations were 
 most rife. It is not necessary to point out the extraordinary difference 
 between the combinations of the weavers and spinners. Both 
 classes were engaged in the cotton manufacture, and yet in the relative 
 amount of their wages, and in peaoeableness and moderation of con- 
 duct, they were strongly in contrast. 
 
 LANCASHIRE WEAVEES. 
 
 The history of the weavers of Lancashire very much resembles 
 that of the Glasgow weavers, but their wages were even lower, being 
 5*. 6d. and Is. per week, or about one-fifth what they were in 1797. 
 In 1818 one of the factory owners reduced the weavers one penny 
 per yard. The other masters intimated that there was no necessity for 
 
The Cloth-Workers of Leeds. 359 
 
 this, upon which the weavers combined, and regained the penny, and 
 also added another penny. Encouraged by their success, they held a 
 deputy meeting to consider the advisability of asking an advanceof2s. 
 in the pound. Some of the masters had a meeting of their own on the 
 same day; and those that came agreed to the advance, but proposed that 
 it should take place by instalments. To this the workmen agreed, at a 
 meeting of deputies from the cotton-weavers of Lancashire, Yorkshire, 
 Cheshire, and Derbyshire. The president of this meeting was a man 
 who had attended at the request of his employer, Mr. White, and two 
 resolutions were passed which were recommended by Mr. White, the 
 first recommending the acceptance of the compromise, the second to the 
 following effect: " That as it is in the power of the manufacturer to 
 compel the weaver to weave out his work in the loom or on hand, he 
 is advised in such case to obey the dictates of the law; yet no injunc- 
 tion is hereby laid upon him by this meeting, and he is left entirely 
 to his own discretion ; but he is not to bring any more work from 
 any manufacturer under the proposed advance mentioned in the first 
 resolution. 
 
 " Signed, Eobt. Ellison, Treasurer. 
 
 "KiCHD. Kate, ) o ^ • >> 
 
 ,, T, -r.^ V becretaries. 
 
 " ROBT. PiLLINGTON, j 
 
 A fortnight after, when the men had all gone to work, the president 
 and two secretaries were arrested by a warrant from the bench of 
 Manchester magistrates, and obliged to find bail to the extent of £400. 
 Ellison's employer procured bail for him, but when he surrendered 
 for trial he was condemned to twelve months' imprisonment, though 
 his own master gave evidence in open court that he himself had 
 recommended the passing of the obnoxious resolutions. 
 
 The wages of weavers varied in different districts more than in 
 most trades, because a man owning his loom could not remove it 
 from one part to another. It must not be forgotten that power-looms 
 were rapidly being introduced, but one reason that hand-loom weavers 
 objected to send their children to the factories was that by them 
 the children were placed out of their supervision, while a father 
 employed in hand- weaving could often give his children considerable 
 instruction. 
 
 THE CLOTH-WORKERS OF LEEDS. 
 
 The cloth- workers of Leeds and the towns of that district appear to 
 have had no combination until 1819, when the weavers struck for 
 wages both at Leeds, and at Dewsbury, about eight miles from 
 Leeds. The wages at Leeds are stated to have been from 20s. to 
 25s. per week, and the strike was to prevent a reduction of about 
 5s. per week ; it lasted six months, and was entirely unsuccessful. 
 The strike at Dewsbury, at the same time, was on the other hand 
 successful, but it should be mentioned that a different kind of cloth 
 was made there. In 1821 there was another strike, which lasted till 
 the end of 1823, one mill only being called out at a time. This strike 
 
360 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1^2'^. 
 
 was also successful. At the end of 1822 a general association was 
 formed of the cloth-weavers and spinners of Yorkshire, to keep up 
 the rate of wages. This association consisted of some 5000 men. 
 During this period the men were perfectly aware of the illegality of 
 their proceedings, but seem to have observed very little secrecy; yet 
 not one master, during their prolonged struggles, availed himself of 
 the Combination Laws, and the magistrates, besides discouraging any 
 idea of doing so, exerted themselves to bring about an arrangement. 
 No violence or . intimidation was used on the part of the workmen, 
 nor was any workman countenanced who left his work suddenly, 
 without finishing what he was about. 
 
 THE LINEN-WEAVEES OF KNARESBOROUGH. 
 The linen-weavers of Knaresborough in 1815 turned out to resist 
 a reduction oils, per forty yards. They stood twelve weeks, and then 
 the masters gave in, but some time after the latter effected a reduction 
 of 2s., and in 1816 another strike took place to resist a further reduc- 
 tion of \s. The strike lasted twelve weeks, when the masters gave 
 in, but succeeded a month or two after in reducing the men without a 
 turn-out. In 1823 another strike took place, which lasted twenty- 
 eight weeks, to resist a further reduction of from 2s. to 3«. 6c?. in 
 the pound. The men were beaten. Since 1805 the Combination Laws 
 had not been put in force, but in that year three men were sent to 
 Wakefield gaol for three months, one of them for carrying a letter to 
 York requesting assistance. The masters, however, in 1823 published 
 an abstract of the Combination Laws as a warning. In all these 
 strikes there appears to have been no violence nor intimidation 
 whatever. 
 
 THE SILK-WORKERS OF MACCLESFIELD. 
 
 The silk-workers of Macclesfield appear to have had no combina- 
 tion until, on 30th March, a placard was issued, signed by all the 
 masters, increasing the hours of labour from eleven to twelve, but 
 making no mention of increase of wages. An open-air meeting of 
 the trade was held upon the 3rd of April to resist this, to which the 
 mayor came down, and requested that they would appoint a deputation 
 to meet him on Monday, the 5th, the day when the masters' notice came 
 into effect. A deputation of fourteen accordingly met the mayor, 
 and he endeavoured to persuade them to accede to the masters' 
 terms, and asked the grounds of their refusal. They said that to 
 work an hour more was equivalent to so much reduction of their 
 wages, but chiefly insisted that eleven hours were already too much 
 for their children. The mayor then called a meeting of masters, 
 and a deputation of the workmen met them and discussed the sub- 
 ject for a considerable time. The masters now appear to have 
 offered additional wages for the additional hour, but whether they 
 intended to give them from the first does not clearly appear ; at any 
 rate, the men thought not. On Tuesday morning the conference 
 was continued, but broke up without result, as the men believed the 
 additional wages would be knocked ofi"at the end of a short time, and 
 
Liverpool Sawyers. 361 
 
 ^course no wages touched the question of their children's health. 
 The inhabitants appear to have sympathised strongly with the mill- 
 men. A crowd collected round the hotel-door where the meeting of 
 masters and workmen was held on Monday evening ; the Maccles- 
 field cavalry came to disperse them, but beyond knocking down an 
 old lady, and considerably damaging their horses' knees by riding 
 over some chains stretched across the road, which was being re- 
 paired, they do not seem to have done much good or harm. Stones 
 were thrown, but not by the men on strike, and two or three persons 
 were taken up for rioting, but these were not workmen who were out. 
 The people were quite peaceable and quiet till the cavalry came down 
 upon them. 
 
 On Tuesday morning the mill-men published an appeal to the 
 town for subscriptions, and on Wednesday the masters published a 
 notice entirely withdrawing their former one, which closed the 
 matter. Mill -men's wages were from 6s. to \As. per week, a maker- 
 up of silk had about 20*., women 6s. to 5s. 6d., children of six Is. 6d., 
 and in proportion. One fact is worth noticing, that the men never 
 went to work on Monday morning, which, considering their low 
 wages, seems strange. 
 
 LIVEEPOOL SAWYERS. 
 
 The sawyers' society was a benefit society of from 200 to 250 mem- 
 bers. The proceedings of thecommittee appear to have been carefully 
 concealed from the general body. The ship-sawyers of Liverpool, 
 in 1816, struck for higher wages. The masters took the opportunity 
 of reducing their wages. To this the men had finally to submit, after 
 a strike of twenty-two weeks, in which they were supported 
 by other towns, and members of their own trade who had not 
 struck. These reduced wages continued until 1823, in the Sep- 
 tember of which year the men again struck for an advance from 42s. to 
 48*. per pair, and this strike was going on at the time of the examina- 
 tion in March, 1824, the sawyers having daily meetings in the fields 
 near Liverpool. The work was sometimes paid by the piece, some- 
 times by the day. By piecework, men working sixteen hours a day 
 sometimes earned 55s. or even £3 per week per pair ; day wages 
 were 42s. per week per pair. The top-sawyer was to some extent 
 a skilled labourer ; but the pitman not being so, it was stated that 
 the wages were unequally divided between the pair ; and though 
 doubt was thrown upon the statement, which indeed was entirely 
 denied by one operative sawyer, yet, as it was universally admitted 
 that top-sawyers paid the pitmen, it seemed probable that some 
 arrangement for an unequal division of wages would be frequently 
 come to. The masters employed the apprentices during the strikes 
 in sawing, and also introduced new sawyers into the town, who in 
 1823 were much abused, and one man was murdered by three others, 
 his skull being fractured. A man was hanged for this murder at 
 Lancaster. Many of these attacks were made by sawyers in the 
 disguise of carters. This violence among the ship-sawyers was con- 
 
362 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1824. 
 
 fined to tlie strike of 1823, as there was little or no violence in 
 1816, nor did it manifest itself till the men had been two months on 
 strike. One of the masters' yards was set iire to, and that particular 
 yard was chosen which, according to the direction of the wind, would 
 he most likely to fire other yards. In January, 1824, the men 
 addressed the mayor with a statement of their grievances, and the 
 masters replied by a counter-memorial to the mayor ; but nothing 
 seems to have come of their applications. It should be remarked 
 that sawyers' wages were stated to be lower in Liverpool than else- 
 where, but the work was more regular. It was not only among 
 the ship-sawyers that violence took place, for in 1821 one man was 
 hanged and another transported for shooting a house-sawyer through 
 a partition. 
 
 STOCKING-MAKEES. 
 
 The stocking-makers of Leicester combined in 1817, on the insti- 
 gation of some of the masters, to procure an advance of their wageS). 
 which had been gradually falling for years ; but the men had not 
 ventured to resist, owing to several having been imprisoned in 1813. 
 The men met the masters, and presented to them a list of prices, 
 which the masters considered and altered, and the men agreed to the 
 alterations. The masters, in their turn, complained that the parish- 
 ofiicers were in the habit of giving premiums to certain masters for 
 employing paupers, and this was put a stop to. Very soon, how- 
 ever, one master after another began to reduce again, and in 1819 
 wages had sunk to about 7^. per week for a good workman, working 
 fourteen to fifteen hours ; in Nottingham it was worse, there from 4s. to 
 5s. was the average. The combination had been entirely broken up 
 through fear of the law, but in that year the men struck, to the number 
 of 14,000. The Lord-Lieutenant, and the members for the county, 
 subscribed funds, sermons were preached in the parish churches, 
 and a benefit was given at the theatre in support of the movement, 
 and after nine weeks they secured the statement of 1817, which 
 they had struck for. Some of the men were brought before the magis- 
 trates, but the magistrates dismissed them, and everybody seems 
 to have been on the men's side. In Nottingham alone £800 was 
 subscribed. The peaceable behaviour of the men was testified to on 
 all sides, not a pane of glass was broken, nor any violence whatever 
 offered to any one. The moderation of the men seems equally beyond 
 q,uestion. In 1821 the committee of the Nottingham Stocking-Makers' 
 Union was arrested, there being another strike which lasted six weeks, 
 to prevent a second attempt at reduction ; but the prosecution 
 was quashed, in consequence of an informality of the most technical 
 kind. In 1822, at Leicester, some of the masters hinted to the 
 workmen that they had better be laying up funds to enable them to 
 resist any attempted reduction ; and in 1823, at Nottingham-, in 
 consequence of the manufacturers in general departing from the 
 statement a third time, some of the leading houses again requested 
 " the men to make a stand to recover them again." It is remarkable, 
 
Birmingham Trades. 363 
 
 tHat when there were no combinations, frame-breaking took place 
 in Nottingham to a great extent. 
 
 The history of the stocking-makers at Howick was different in 
 some respects. In 1819, the masters wished to reduce the wages, 
 and the men appealed to the justices to fix the rate of wages, as by 
 law they had the power to do. The justices admitted that they had 
 this power, but declined to use it. The men then prosecuted the 
 masters for combining to reduce their wages, and though the sheriff 
 declared they had fully substantiated their charges, nothing came of 
 it. In 1821, the masters attempted a further reduction, when the men 
 struck, and remained out twenty-eight weeks ; at the end of the 
 period, twenty of them were arrested, but they procured a "line" 
 from the chief magistrate, another magistrate, and the minister and 
 chief elder of the Kirk, certifying the perfectly peaceable conduct 
 of the men during the twenty-eight weeks — upon which the sheriff 
 discharged them. Wages in 1824 were from 8s. to 10s. The men 
 seem to have submitted to reductions when they believed trade was 
 bad ; but when they saw new hands rushing into the trade, they 
 naturally considered that proiits were good, and objected to any re- 
 duction. In 1824, they had a fund, to which they paid Zd. per 
 week, for assisting those out of employment. 
 
 BIRMINGHAM TRADES. 
 
 A QUOTATION from one of the witness's evidence will be the best 
 resume of the information concerning the Birmingham trades. 
 
 " The Birmingham trades are so peculiar in their nature, that 
 it is next to impossible for anything like a combination on the part 
 of the masters to exist in the place. In fact, if there is a spot in 
 the world in which perfect community of interests between workmen 
 and their employers is to be found, that spot is Birmingham. If, for 
 instance, I take the manufacture of brass foundry, which is a leading 
 manufacture, employing a larger number of hands and a much greater 
 capital than many trades, I do not think there are twenty brass 
 founders in Birmingham who employ so large a capital as twenty 
 thousand pounds each ; but there are hundreds of brass founders who 
 are at work on a capital of perhaps less than five hundred pounds ; for 
 one man makes a drawn knob, another a commode handle, another a 
 bell puU, &c. So that, though there may be but few who manufacture 
 every species of brass foundry, yet I think I may say that the most 
 voluminous pattern-book of the most extensive manufacturer in Bir- 
 mingham does not contain a single article which a man without fifty 
 pounds may not go and manufacture; and in such a state of things 
 as this, it is quite impossible that masters should combine to the injury 
 of the workmen; for if the masters agree to pay less than their 
 journeymen require, the man has nothing to do but go and manu- 
 facture the article himself. 
 
 " A friend of mine some years ago engaged in the silver-plated 
 trade. On looking over his new manufactory, and seeing a very 
 costly and extensive collection of dies, I congratulated him on being 
 
364 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1824. 
 
 engaged in a business wliere lie was not likely to meet with competi- 
 tion from persons who had no capital, and consequently not labouring 
 under any of the burdens of a large establishment. He told me, 
 some time afterwards, that I had been entirely mistaken, for that 
 stamps and dies for almost every article he manufactured were 
 made and let out for hire. For instance, a careful man who has 
 saved eighty or a hundred pounds (which a clever and thrifty work- 
 man may soon do) erects a stamp, or a couple of presses, to which, 
 as his little capital increases, he adds perhaps a set of dies for a tea- 
 pot, a candlestick, or some other staple article, in which it is ten to 
 one that he closely copies (in fact makes his own counterpart of) some 
 favourite pattern, to design and perfect which has recently cost some 
 master manufacturer a great deal of trouble and expense. This 
 machinery and these dies and tools he lets out, at a sufficient profit 
 to himself certainly, but at a rate which enables the artisans who 
 hire them to manufacture many of the most saleable articles at 
 prices that utterly defy the competition of those from whose 
 profits must be deducted rent, taxes, poor-rates, clerks' salaries, and 
 fifty other encumbrances, inseparable from a large manufactory, 
 and of which the artisan knows nothing. This is a state of things 
 which not only tends to reduce the profits of capital, whilst 
 it enhances the value of labour, but renders it quite impossible foi* 
 the master manufacturer to exercise the slightest control over the just 
 rights and claims of his workmen. Some time since, two or three 
 burnishers went into the counting-house of a respectable button 
 manufacturer, who has a very large establishment, and peremptorily 
 required the immediate dismissal of a confidential clerk, who had 
 said or done something to offend them. The master requested them 
 to leave that part of the business to his own superintendence, and 
 return to their workshop. Within half an hour afterwards, he was 
 told all the burnishers had left him. He directly called several of his 
 brethren in the button trade, informed them of the circumstance, 
 stated that he had orders on hand which required immediate com- 
 pletion, and begged they would be good enough to burnish his buttons 
 for him. They kindly engaged to do so ; but before night, his buttons 
 were all returned to him, for, as his mark was known to the trade 
 generally, there was not a button manufactory in the town where the 
 men were not acquainted with the fact in a few hours, and they all 
 refused to touch his buttons. So that the man's own manufactory 
 (and it was a large one) was completely stopped, and a great number 
 of hands in the other departments were thrown out of employment. 
 Finding remonstrance ineffectual, he summoned them before a magis- 
 trate, who convicted them in some slight penalty ; and the men appealed 
 against the conviction to the quarter sessions; but the day before the 
 sessions commenced, their solicitor persuaded them to withdraw their 
 appeal, and return to their work, and they did so. I am not aware that 
 they paid the penalties, and I do not think they succeeded in getting 
 the objectionable clerk removed ; but I cannot speak confidently of the 
 fact. I have never heard of violence in a Birmingham manufactory." 
 
, Dublin Trades. 365 
 
 lEISH WOOLLEN MANUFACTUEES. 
 
 In the woollen manufactures of Ireland, combinations seem to have 
 attained a very considerable height; they were in connexion with 
 the Board of Green Cloth, a committee which probably included 
 other trades, and which levied fines with much severity. The ex- 
 pression of one of the masters was, " They legislate for us." The 
 evidence states that the wages were higher in this trade in England 
 than in Ireland, though provisions, as a rule, were cheaper at the 
 latter place. They were quite up to the system of only striking 
 part of the trade at a time, and carried it out in general. The words 
 of one of the masters, describing his differences with his workmen, 
 will best tell what else of interest about this trade was given in 
 evidence. 
 
 " The difference of 1815 was their resistance to an attempt on my 
 part to lower their wages; they struck; Mr. Bankes' men had struck 
 a little before, and they succeeded in the object they had in view. 
 I resisted, with a full determination to suffer my factory to stand 
 altogether, rather than to give way to their efforts. They remained out 
 about six weeks ; during this period every attempt was made on the 
 part of those who turned out, to prevent those who were well dis- 
 posed from working. I believe the whole of them were not inclined 
 to turn out, but the majority were determined not to suffer any 
 person — no matter whether mason, or bricklayer, or smith, or any 
 other trade which I carry on within myself — to work, or repair the 
 factory. I might have gone on repairing my factory while it was 
 standing from combination, but they would not suffer any millwright 
 or mechanic of any description to work. If they attempted to 
 repair, they met with insult. I was anxious, if I could not be fishing, 
 to be mending my nets, but those men were waylaid and assaulted, 
 and in several instances very much hurt, so much so, indeed, that the 
 remainder were deterred from working. Frequent acts of violence 
 were committed by the majority, but I was unable to bring any to 
 justice. They got tired; they were starved, in fact, into submiss on. 
 All their funds were exhausted, and then it was a matter of difiiculty 
 how they should get in, or who should enter first. They were aware 
 that whosoever should enter first would be murdered; that would be 
 the inevitable result. In this difficulty they applied to a brother 
 churchwarden, and they asked his advice. 'Boys,' said he, 'you 
 have heard the factory bell ring morning, noon, and night for the last 
 few weeks, and would not go to work. I will tell you; it strikes me 
 in'a'moment ; you will assemble to-morrow morning round the factory 
 gates, and let those that are outside push those that are next the 
 gates in.' 'Excellent!' They immediately resolved upon this expe- 
 dient, and met in very considerable numbers about the gates, and 
 those who were outside pushed the others in, and they ran to work, 
 helterskelter, in every direction, although some few remained out 
 threatening vengeance and murder. I did not attempt to put the 
 Combination Laws into execution against the men this time. I found 
 
366 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1824. 
 
 it was expedient to -work and single out those characters that were 
 obnoxious, that I had reason to believe were at the bottom of this 
 business, and I ridded my concern of them at my own convenience, 
 not at any particular time. When I had reason to find fault, I took 
 an opportunity of saying, ' I do not want any more of your work,' 
 and got rid of them in this way by degrees. They have me a little 
 in dread. They know I am a decided character. I believe the men 
 obtained supplies from other trades during that time, but not suffi- 
 cient to keep them up ; being the largest factory in the kingdom, it 
 was not easy for the other factories to support so large an establish- 
 ment, nor were they indeed prepared. I believe they make weekly 
 payments ; there is a weekly collection, but to what purpose the 
 funds are applied, I do not know; but it still exists. It is not under 
 the title of a benefit society ; those societies are encouraged by me, also 
 savings' banks, or anything that will extract money from their pockets 
 for their own benefit. I believe they have no connexion with any 
 societies in England. I had a slight diiFerence about wages six 
 months ago. I understood, after the turn-out at Mr. Williams's 
 factory, and after the Messrs. Williams had acceded to the wishes of 
 their men, that it was the determination of my men also to turn out 
 on the same principle. I found it necessary to check this in the bud. 
 The moment I heard of it, I ran down to Colbridge, and I ordered 
 the watchman for the night to turn out the hands employed through 
 the night — they work day and night in part of the works — at an 
 early hour, and not to suffer any hand, nor any superintendent even 
 to enter the works without my express directions. He did so ; he 
 turned out the men at an early hour ; he did not ring the bell as 
 usual, which was an ominous thing. The people assembled, the 
 works were dark and perfectly silent ; they were astonished, of 
 course. They assembled round the gates, and when I thought I had 
 succeeded in effecting a little panic, I sent a note saying that I under- 
 stood their intention was to make an alteration in the rate of wages ; 
 if they had anything to say to me, I should be happy to see a deputa- 
 tion of their body, that is, of the weavers, spinners, and slabbers ; 
 that the deputation might wait on me at eight o'clock. And accord- 
 ingly they assembled in great numbers and sent down a deputation 
 of nine. I ought to state, also, they were objecting to my employ- 
 ing the son of a labourer as an apprentice to the mules. When 
 they waited upon me, they told me that they could not think 
 of working with this labourer's son ; they also had some objec- 
 tions to the wages : but they would waive any objection they 
 had on the score of wages, but they could not think of working 
 with this boy. I told them I conceived it was a bad principle on 
 which they were proceeding, that the son of a labourer, merely be- 
 cause he happened to be the son of a labourer, should not have work 
 as well as the son of a tradesman (which they call themselves). 
 They said they could not think of it : it was contrary to their rules. 
 I told them that I certainly must insist upon anything I thought 
 right ; then they begged I would put what I said on paper, and 
 
Ireland. — Woollen Manufactures. 367 
 
 they would lay it before the body. I did so and they took it up to 
 the body and there was a very strong discussion — they could be heard a 
 mile off; they were going to fight. But at length a deputation of 
 about twenty-four came down and they still objected in the most 
 decided way to my employing this boy. I told them I must and would 
 employ the boy, and whomsoever I chose ; but with regard to him, 
 if they would go to Shaw, the superintendent of the spinners they 
 would find I had written a note to him a few days ago that might 
 satisfy them that he would not be employed in that particular 
 business; but I reserved to myself the right of employing him at any 
 future time. They went to Shaw, and found the note that I had 
 written desu-ing that the boy might not be employed in that par- 
 ticular branch ; they came, and expressed their gratitude, and the 
 affair ended there." 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS DUBLIN TRADES. 
 
 The trades of Dublin and the neighbourhood were combined to- 
 gether to the number of about fifteen or sixteen in a union, but it 
 does not distinctly appear whether this was the committee known as 
 the board of " Green " cloth. It discussed what measures were to be 
 taken against colts, or those who were non-society men. The 
 masters were in such terror of the combinations, that in many cases 
 of violence they did not like to prosecute, and as the offence was a 
 bailable one, the witnesses were generally tampered with, and threat- 
 ened in the interval, and it was extremely difficult to procure a con- 
 viction. 
 
 DUBLIN CAEPENTEES. 
 
 The Carpenters in Dublin numbered between four hundred and 
 five hundred in society, and two hundred and three hundred irregular 
 men. There were four general fields or meetings (so called from 
 taking place in a field) in the year; five men were chosen every 
 three months by the field, one each representing Ulster, Munster, 
 Connaught, and two for Leinster. These met twice a week, to take 
 into consideration grievances and receive subscriptions. The entrance 
 fee was two guineas, but it was only on rare occasions that any man 
 who. had not served seven years was admitted. The third rule of 
 their constitution forbade working for less than 4«. Ad. a day within 
 certain boundaries, or 5«. beyond. By rule 3 no Dublin member 
 of the community was allowed to take an apprentice except a son, 
 brother, or .nephew. 
 
 Bv rule 7, no master was allowed more than three apprentices; 
 by another rule no country, or, as it was called, club apprentice was 
 allowed to serve with a Dublin employer either the whole or part 
 of his time. The society was bound to apprentice four orphans 
 annually, with a premium of ten guineas each. Any member of the 
 council ofiice known to be intoxicated was fined from 5s. to 20s., 
 according to the discretion of the field — a fine stated to be frequently 
 levied. Any member obliging others to turn out against him by his 
 
368 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1824. 
 
 opposition was to be fined 34*. IJd. For replacing any member or 
 members on turn-out (presumed to mean general turn-out) the fine 
 was £3 8*. ?>d., or for replacing one on turn-out for non-payment of 
 wages, £1 2s. 9d. The two former fines were generally mitigated in 
 amount. 
 
 Piecework was strictly forbidden, on the ground that it enabled 
 the masters to reduce wages, and it was stated that there were cases 
 where non-society men on piecework earned only 1 8s. per week. The 
 rules were sworn to by a very stringent oath. The society was also 
 a benefit society, but in times of struggle the sick and burial funds 
 completely went to the wall. The society defended all men prose- 
 cuted for trade assaults or "slatings," as the term was, and maintained 
 them and their families while they were in prison. One builder, who 
 had never had any difference with his men with regard to wages, 
 was applied to by a gentleman in the north of Ireland to take his son 
 as an apprentice, with a premium of sixty guineas. He answered 
 that he could not take him without the sanction of his men. He 
 consulted his men, who declared that there could be no objection to 
 the new apprentice, upon which he was bound. Some time after, 
 they came and said they were ordered by the field not to work with 
 the new apprentice. Mr. Carolan (the master) refused to dismiss 
 him, and they then tried to compromise, by demanding the dismissal 
 of another boy. To this also Mr. Carolan said no, and his men left 
 him, all except three, whose wages Mr. Carolan took the opportunity 
 of raising the Saturday night following. He sent to Scotland for 
 others, upon which the old men began to return ; they, induced the 
 new hands to join their body. In June, 1820, they again objected 
 to work with a man named Johnson, and Mr. Carolan knew that, 
 having succeeded in that, they would object to two of the men named 
 Ruxton, who had remained with him during the former strike; he 
 refused, allowed them to strike, and again sent over to Scotland for 
 men. As before, the two Ruxtons remained with him. The new- 
 comers were not molested, but as one of the Ruxtons was going to 
 work, in Talbot-street, he was met by from eighty to a hundred men, 
 who attacked him with bludgeons, called slaters, about two feet six 
 inches long, round at one end, to hold in the hand, and square at the 
 other. Ruxton had a small saw in his hand, and defended himself as 
 well as he could. Mr. Carolan, who was in the yard, hearing the 
 cry of murder, went out. Mr. Carolan had a case of pistols, loaded 
 with shot and ball ; he fired, and wounded four or five, especially a 
 tailor, named Delaney (men of one trade were often employed to 
 slate a man of another); he then sprung a bayonet attached to one of 
 the pistols, and wounded another man, named Macdonnel, who died 
 in consequence. He then gave information to the police, who went 
 to the hospital and there found Delaney, and a charge was lodged 
 against him, but he was bailed out by stag (or false) bail, and dis- 
 appeared. Mr. Carolan, however, one day chanced to meet him, and 
 took him up himself, and he was tried ; but what was the result does 
 not appear. Mr. Carolan was tried for murder, and acquitted, the 
 
Dublin Carpenters. 369 
 
 prosecution being paid for by trade funds. The brother of Euxton 
 did not escape so easily ; he was attacked by a number of men, and so 
 beaten with slaters that he was left for dead. The next year, Mr. 
 Carolan's son having been considered too strict in keeping the men 
 to time, a friend of his was attacked in mistake for him, and had to 
 run some seven hundred yards for his life. He was under the 
 doctor's hands about three weeks. Eight men were convicted, and 
 sentenced to nine months' imprisonment for this offence. A witness 
 named Murray was indicted for perjury, but the grand jury threw 
 out the bill. Two years afterwards about eighty or one hundred 
 men, who collected under cover of listening to a fiddler, waited till 
 Murray came out of the Duke of Leinster's, where he was working, 
 and then set upon him with slaters, and he was sent to the hospital, 
 and was insensible for several days. No one was prosecuted for this 
 attack. I should mention that after the eight men who attacked 
 Mr. Carolan's friend had been in prison six months, they wrote to 
 him acknowledging the justice of their sentence, on which Mr. 
 Carolan procured a remission of the rest of it from Government. 
 Finally the Carolans succeeded in bidding defiance to the trades' 
 union. In another case, where a poor man was beaten to death, in 
 mistake for another, the two brothers were so much afraid that they 
 petitioned for pardon for a man sentenced to transportation for the 
 ofience, which petition was granted. It must be remarked that the 
 Dublin police seem to have been remarkably able and efficient, in 
 ■comparison with the police of other towns of that day. 
 
 In 1813, an English coachmaker was employed by Messrs. 
 Hutton ; he was a polisher, and extremely clever, so that the men 
 who worked under him were able to earn 5s. per week more than 
 those in other shops. The coachmakers obj ected to him on two grounds, 
 firstly because he was an Englishman, and secondly because he was 
 introducing new and improved processes. He was waylaid, beaten 
 with spokes, and stabbed with bayonets, and crippled for life so as to 
 be unable to earn his livelihood, and Messrs. Hutton had to maintain 
 him ever after. They were not however men to sit down quietly 
 under such a thing, and they never rested until they had discovered 
 the perpetrators of the outrage, and secured for them a year's impri- 
 sonment, and exposure in the pillory. It cost them £450, but they 
 found it cheap, in the tranquillity which it secured to them after- 
 wards. 
 
 The cabinet-makers of Dublin appear to have been a highly respect- 
 able class, the premium for apprenticeship being £100 ; the wages 
 were from205. to 24*. per week, the work being piecework. The feel- 
 ing between masters and men seems to have been very good, and diffe- 
 rences were comparatively rare. One case of prosecution by a master 
 who had been a workman, was mentioned, for simple combination, when 
 the men were sentenced to a month's imprisonment. There were no 
 printed rules, only written ones. The chief rules were, no man to 
 work without having served seven years' apprenticeship ; no employer 
 to have more than two apprentices; and no man to work under the 
 
 B B 
 
370 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1824. 
 
 stated rate of wages. The society was not a benefit society, though 
 called the Samaritan Society. It was simply for trade purposes, but 
 though illegal, the employers do not seem to have looked upon 
 it with any great aversion; and when on one occasion the chief 
 constable had the men attending a meeting arrested, the employers 
 came forward to bail them. Indeed they professed that their object, 
 though primarily to defend their own interests against the masters, 
 was also to defend the interests of the masters against unprincipled 
 journeymen. Many of the masters on receiving the bill of a journey- 
 man were in the habit of sending it to the trades' society committee 
 to be taxed, after which the word committee was stamped upon it. 
 One case was mentioned, when between two and three pounds were 
 knocked off a bill of about eight pounds, by the trade committee. 
 Formerly there had been an employer's committee as well as a men's 
 committee, but the former seems to have fallen into disuse. In 1816, 
 the men submitted, apparently with a good grace, to a reduction of 
 2s. 6d. in the £1. In this trade, however, they suffered from the fact 
 that the best men, owing to the combination laws, did not like to take 
 the offices of stewards and presidents, and run the risk of having 
 their names connected with the police-court, so that these offices 
 were filled by the less moderate and sensible men. In this trade 
 there however seems to have been no violence at all. The number 
 of the society was from eighty to ninety in Dublin. 
 
 The calico printers, previous to 1810, had many diflferences with 
 their men ; but in that year a sort of convention was entered into 
 between masters and men, and a scale of prices was agreed to, dis- 
 tinguishing between easy and difficult work, so as to give a fair reward 
 for ability. No employer engaged a man without a certificate from 
 his last shop, which stated his character. This plan worked extremely 
 well till 1817, when some of the masters began to depart from it, and 
 especially to fuse the two kinds of work. The consequence of the 
 reduction of wages was, that the best workmen went over to England. 
 The calico printers seem to have been a superior class of workmen. 
 
 The saddlers of Dublin were formed into a benefit society called the 
 Halifax Society ; there were no trade regulations in their printed 
 rules, but in their written rules. The rate of wages was fixed in 1812 
 from 30«. 6d. for first-class work down to 26*. for third-class work, by 
 a meeting of the masters and men in the Exchange, and the relative 
 value of piecework was also determined then. In 1816, business 
 being in a declining state, the masters reduced the wages, with a pro- 
 mise that they should be raised in better times. The reduction was sub- 
 mitted to, though not without some slight quarrelling. When better 
 times came, the men claimed the promised rise, to which all the masters 
 acceded cheerfully, except one, whose men struck. He brought them, 
 under the Combination Laws, before the magistrates, who advised a 
 compromise, and the men returned to work, the master giving the 
 prices. In 1822 there was a question of reduction again, and the 
 masters presented a list of prices for both piecework and day work 
 to a deputation of clever men, who met them in the exchange. The 
 
Dublin Saddlers. 371 
 
 masters proposed that the list should be discussed by a committee con- 
 sisting of three masters and three men, whose decision should be final. 
 The men, however, objected to one of the masters named, because he em- 
 ployed " colts " in his office. They directed twelve of their best men to 
 report upon the proposed list, who modified it, and then the amended 
 list was presented to the masters. The masters took tiU the end of 
 the week to consider the amendments, and then turned out about half 
 the men, taking in others said to be imperfectly up to the business. 
 Some of these were severely beaten. The masters then took out 
 summonses against the eleven men who had met them in the 
 exchange, and the men took out counter summonses against five of the 
 masters for meeting contrary to law, according to their own published 
 documents. The magistrates directed both parties to find bail, and 
 sent the cases to the quarter sessions, when the bill against the 
 masters was ignored, but that against the men was found. It 
 may be well here to remark that not much faith seems to have 
 been placed by workmen generally in the justice of juries, they 
 declaring that employers were often put upon them, and men never. 
 The men then prosecuted the masters for the following conspiracy : 
 In 1821 an army accoutrement maker, named White, got an order 
 for saddlery, for the first Royal dragoons, the colonel saying that were 
 it satisfactorily carried out, according to sample, he would probably 
 get all the work of the cavalry regiments made there, it having 
 been hitherto all done in England. Mr. White made arrangements 
 with the journeymen saddlers, with which, the terms being very 
 advantageous for them, they were perfectly satisfied. The master 
 saddlers met their men and told them that if they worked for Mr. 
 White, who was not a regular master saddler, they could not be 
 employed by regular masters again; and partly by persuasion, partly 
 by threats, they succeeded in inducing the men to refuse to work 
 for White. The business was accordingly lost to Ireland. The 
 masters were so frightened by their last prosecution, that they 
 immediately compromised the matter and settled amicably with their 
 men. They seem after that to have gone on very quietly, with the 
 exception of one shop, where the master quarrelled with his men 
 about a foreman; they left his employ for a few hours; he took out a 
 summons, under the Combination Laws, against them ; but on the men 
 writing an apology, he by letter accepted it, and the matter was 
 dropped, until, on another difference, he induced Government, who 
 at that time were very much alive to the evils of intimidation and 
 conspiracy, to prosecute for the same offence which the master had 
 previously forgiven ; but upon discovering that it was the same 
 offence, the Government abandoned the prosecution. In this and 
 other trades, the magistrates ajspear to have adopted a wise and 
 conciliatory policy, advising and forwarding compromises, whenever 
 there seemed to be room for such. 
 
 By an act of the Irish Parliament, 11 & 12 Geo. III., the wages of 
 the trades of shipwrights and tailors were determined by the deci- 
 sion of the recorder and magistrates of Dublin; and in ISlOtheywere 
 
 bb2 
 
372 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1824. 
 
 fixed at not less than 2>s. Ad. for the worst men, and not more than 
 As. 6d. for the best men, a master being liable, by the terms of the 
 act, to a penalty for paying more. It is unnecessary to say that this 
 law was evaded whenever there was any reason for doing so. The 
 number of shipwrights in Dublin was at that time from sixty to seventy, 
 but had much declined of late years, owing partly to want of capital, 
 and to trade having gone elsewhere, but also very much to the 
 bad understanding between masters and men, not so much as to the 
 amount of wages as to the question whom the masters were at 
 liberty to employ. 
 
 Another act enabled the Dublin society to fix the wages of the 
 silk weavers. Whipping was, in Ireland, a punishment for com- 
 bination; and under 3 Geo. III. c. 34, a man might be convicted before 
 one justice of combination, on the simple oath of a master (if believed 
 by the magistrate) that the man had quitted his work before the time 
 for which he was retained, or had refused to work with a particular 
 man, &c. &c., and might be sentenced to six months' imprisonment 
 and to be three times publicly whipped. Whipping, however, had 
 fallen into disuse, and nine or ten years had elapsed since a man 
 had been whipped for this offence. Personal service of a summons 
 was not required. Proof of its having been left at the place of 
 abode of the party summoned, twenty-four hours before hearing 
 being sufficient. 
 
 The evidence as to some other trades heard by the committee 
 does not require re-statement here, as it merely presents facts similar 
 in kind to those brought out elsewhere more fuUy. 
 
ABSTRACT 
 
 OP THE 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDEISrOE 
 
 TAKEN BEFOEE A 
 
 SELECT COMMITTEE OP THE HOUSE OF C03IM0NS APPOfflTED IN 1825, 
 
 TO INQUIKE INTO THE EFFECT OF THE 
 
 REPEAL OF THE COMBINATION LAWS 
 
 ON THE CONDUCT OF "VYOKKMEN AND OTHERS IN DIFFEEENT PAETS 
 OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
 
 PKEPARED rOK 
 
 ®fie Wattonal associatiDn iat tijc ^rnmottnn of Mortal Sttcncc, 
 at the bequest of the committee on tkades' societies. 
 
 By frank H. hill. 
 
 The circumstances which led to the appointment of the committee 
 of 1825, on the Act 5 Geo. IV. c. 95, are stated in Mr. Longe's 
 "Inquiry into the Law of 'Strikes,'" a portion of which is reprinted 
 in this volume. One result of the investigations of this committee 
 was the Act 6 Geo. IV. c. 129, passed in the same session of Par- 
 liament, and still in force. The following paper contains a brief 
 abstract of the more important evidence taken before the com- 
 mittee, by whom representatives of the following trades were ex- 
 amined : — 
 
 Collieries of the Newcastle Ship Builders. 
 
 District. Cloth Trade. 
 
 Scotch Collieries. Coopers. 
 
 Dublin Trades. Spinners. 
 
 Seamen. Weavers. 
 
 Paper-Makers. 
 The Sheriffs Substitute and Depute of Renfrewshire and Lanark- 
 shire were also examined with respect to combinations of workmen 
 in those counties. 
 
 The evidence concerning the Ship Builders' Unions is incorporated 
 in the special report on that trade. 
 
 NEWCASTLE COLLIERIES. 
 
 [Witness examined : — A Colliery Engineer in the Newcastle District.] 
 In 1810 there was a most obstinate strike (or, as it was called 
 there, " stick ") among the colliers of this district, during which a 
 large military force was called in to aid the civil power. Much vio- 
 lence was committed, and one soldier was stabbed. The strike took 
 place at the orders of, and was conducted by, a secret committee. 
 After " sticking" for a month, the colliers came in, without having 
 gained any of their points. 
 
^74 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1825. 
 
 The men in 1810 had a system called " brothering," so named 
 because the members of the Union bound themselves by a most 
 solemn oath to obey the orders of the brotherhood, under the penalty 
 of being stabbed through the heart or of having their bowels ripped up. 
 
 After the strike of 1810 the colliers remained quiet, though 
 there had been a slight reduction of wages in 1814, until the repeal 
 of the Combination Laws, very soon after which they began to form 
 themselves into a Union. Delegates from the different works, and from 
 the different trades in connexion with those works, including the car- 
 penters, sawyers, and blacksmiths, held secret meetings. The season, 
 however, was not favourable for an advance, and they therefore, up 
 to April, 1825, were still biding their time. The wages of a collier 
 in full employment were from about 4«. to Is. a day. They 
 worked by taskwork. 
 
 A singular feature in connexion with the management of the 
 Newcastle collieries was "the limitation of the vend." The colliers, 
 as has been mentioned, were paid for taskwork, and when in work 
 could earn from 4^. to 7s. a day; but the in work was very uncer- 
 tain. In order, however, to prevent them asking exorbitant wages 
 in times of pressure, the coal-owners were accustomed to hire them 
 for a year, guaranteeing them 2s. 6d. a day, whether there was 
 work for them or not. This system, of course, made the masters 
 anxious to spread the demand for coals more equally over the 
 year, and in order to insure a more regular supply, an agreement, 
 binding generally for a year or six months, was made among them, 
 not to ship more than a certain proportion of coals per month from 
 each of the collieries included in that agreement. The limitation 
 of vend was not a restriction of absolute quantity, but a propor- 
 tion calculated according to the probable consumption during six 
 or twelve months, and assigned to each coal-owner, according to 
 his power of working, beyond which he was not to ship. On the 
 average, pitmen were allowed to work five days in the week, or 
 eleven days in the fortnight — five men on four days' work, and 
 five men on three days' work, — according to the requirements of 
 the coal-owners. This system was said to be peculiar to New- 
 castle. There was no occasion for it in other parts of the coun- 
 try, where men were hired by the day or the week. It became 
 necessary where men were engaged at a certain rate during the 
 whole year, as in the Newcastle district. 
 
 COOPERS. 
 [Examined: — Two Master Coopers ; and two Working Coopers.] 
 The number of coopers in London is said to have been 1,500, of 
 whom 700 were enrolled in a benefit society, called " The Friends 
 of Humanity." There was a separate fund to support men out of 
 employment, whether from strikes or from any other cause. A man 
 might be a member of the benefit society without being a member 
 of the Union ; and there were members of the Union who were not 
 members of the benefit society. His Majesty's coopers of Ports- 
 mouth and Deptford were in the same Union ; but they were not 
 
Coopers. 375 
 
 communicated with on occasion of a strike, and would not be 
 required to strike with the London coopers. Though there were no 
 secret oaths, declarations, and subscriptions, there were other rules 
 than those printed, which there was an agreement not to make 
 public, and on which only evasive answers, conveying no informa- 
 tion, could be obtained by the committee. 
 
 With regard to apprentices, there is some difference between the 
 statements of the masters and -workmen. An employer stated 
 that " by their (the workmen's) regulations as to apprentices, they 
 had so reduced] the number of workmen, that the masters were 
 completely in their power." " They would not suffer any one to be 
 taken apprentice but a cooper's son." On the other hand, a work- 
 ing cooper denied that the masters were at all limited, either by 
 rule or in practice. The regulation not to take any other appren- 
 tices than the sons of coopers, applied, he said, to the journeymen 
 and not to the masters; and the journeymen, for a certain allowance, 
 were willing to instruct masters' apprentices. 
 
 The entire absence of any threatening or violent conduct on the 
 part of the workmen was fully admitted by all the witnesses. 
 
 There is great conflict of testimony on other points. On the one 
 hand, it was asserted that a penalty of £5 is inflicted if a man moved 
 a hammer after he had heard there was a strike ; that coopers from 
 Ireland would not (the experiment does not seem to have been tried) 
 be suffered to work; and that a man was scouted out of the yard if 
 it is found that he had worked under price. Again, it was said that 
 members of the Society would not suffer men from the country to 
 work with them, nor themselves work with masters (of whom there 
 were not more than three or four) who employed such men. On the 
 other hand, it was alleged that no strike had ever occurred because 
 men who were not members of the Society were admitted into a shop; 
 that unionists would not go out nor compel the non-members to go 
 out, but if the latter refused to become members — though they 
 would not be obstructed — yet the whole thing might be made so 
 disagreeable to them, that probably they would not wish to remain 
 in the shop. The society men might refuse to " truss " with them. 
 Another witness denies that the non-members have ever been sub- 
 ject to any inconvenience or met with refusal to "truss." 
 
 For the last twenty years there were continual disputes, not always 
 issuing in strikes, with the working men about wages, in which the 
 men invariably carried their point. Strikes occurred in 1808, 1813, 
 and 1816 ; and in the current year 1825, one was impending. The 
 list of prices was regulated according to the price of the quartern 
 loaf, but the men afterwards refused that standard. With the ex- 
 ception of 1810, when a reduction was made, the men obtained an 
 advance in all these years. An agreement existed that notice of a 
 proposed alteration on either side in the list of prices should be 
 given only in February ; and that the lists agreed on should be 
 valid from year to year. The men professed to consider this as only 
 a temporary arrangement, and departed from it in 1825, when they 
 made a demand for a new statement in March. They proposed an 
 
376 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1825. 
 
 alteration of wages, " so that all men, be they at what work they 
 might, might earn about the same average," though not independent 
 of their skill ; and they also wished to reduce the number of hours 
 for piecework, so that "all men should be employed, instead of some 
 being out of employ and others doing a great deal too much." The 
 workmen alleged that the extra labour thrown upon them by the 
 use of heavier staves and heavier iron work, made the list of prices 
 hitherto in force no longer suitable. The masters maintained that 
 they were not able to raise the prices of these articles in a degree at 
 all commensurate with the increased cost of labour and raw mate- 
 rial ; and that if coopers from the country could be obtained, they 
 would not, without previous instruction, even in the case of good 
 workmen, be competent for the work of the London coopers. 
 
 No combination had existed on the part of the masters for some 
 years. They met rarely and irregularly, as special occasion might 
 arise. 
 
 The wages of the journeymen coopers were differently stated by 
 masters and by men. According to the latter, the best workmen, 
 working thirteen hours for six days, could earn £2 10*. or £3. Ac- 
 cording to the former, £5, or, in some cases, £10. 
 
 PAPER MAKERS. 
 
 The only information brought before the committee with regard 
 to the paper makers, is contained in the rather meagre evidence of 
 a journeyman from Kent. 
 
 The society of paper makers consisted of 1000 members in Kent and 
 2000 more in other places. Its object was to give material support 
 to persons out of work, by furnishing pass tickets to tramps, and by 
 aiding men on strike. 
 
 Strikes which took place in consequence of diminution of wages, 
 were supported by the Society. During a strike the allowance was 
 As. to a woman, and 2s. to a child; there was no allowance to men. 
 The allowance to the women and children was continued till the 
 man on whom they depended got work. Strikes occurred also in 
 consequence of the refusal of an advance, and were supported by the 
 clubs. Formerly it was necessary before striliing to apply to the 
 central cormnittee in Kent; but this was not the practice at the date 
 of the evidence given. There have never been any acts of violence. 
 
 The working paper -makers had a rule that no more than one ap-. 
 prentice should be allowed to each vat, to which for two or three years 
 the masters had agreed. There were, however, more apprentices 
 than this rule contemplates in many mills. Individuals had ceased 
 to work, but a turn-out on account of apprentices had never been sup- 
 ported. No factory had been " laid still" in consequence of a dis- 
 pute about apprentices. There was no regulation in the club to restrict 
 working without a certain number of apprentices. No strike had 
 ever taken place for the purpose of forcing any regulations upon the 
 master with regard to the conduct of his trade. The Society regulations 
 affect only wages. The conduct of working paper-makers was un- 
 influenced by the Combination Laws, since they had no knowledge 
 
Cloth Trade at Wakefield. 3 IIP 
 
 either of their existence or their repeal. The strike in 1825, in 
 some parts of England, was to obtain the rate of wages paid in Kent, 
 and to gain back a reduction made some nine years earlier ; trade 
 being brisker and provisions dearer. Instead of enforcing or yielding 
 to a strike, some mills worked on credit, or gave two or three shillings 
 advance till the proprietors saw what other masters will do. 
 
 CLOTH TRADE AT WAKEFIELD. 
 [Examined : — A Master Manufacturer.] 
 
 In different answers, the witness contradictorily referred the first 
 formation of a combination among his workmen to September, 1822, 
 and November, 1824, — admitting that the former was previous to the 
 repeal of the Combination Laws, andyet stating afterwards that, accord- 
 ing to his belief, there had been no combination before the repeal of those 
 laws, and that it was the repeal which tempted his men to form them- 
 selves into an association. Strikes occurred among his workmen at 
 the two times referred to. In September, 1822, about forty men out of 
 four hundred, turned out for an advance of wages, — taking advantage 
 of the master's having a contract to be completed in six weeks. On 
 November 20th, 1824, all but two men struck, demanding an advance 
 on their wages of 25 per cent., although the witness was paying more 
 than his neighbours, on whom no demand was made. If he had con- 
 ceded this, the workmen would have struck elsewhere. Fifty or 
 sixty men, of whom twenty were new men, came in afterwards at 
 the old prices. People were threatened as they came to work, and 
 money offered them to stay away ; but no actual violence was done,^ 
 save in the breaking of an old woman's windows, and the destroying of 
 a man's garden. The foreman, having been annoyed by two men, 
 thought it necessary to carry pistols, and a guard was set on the mill. 
 Lodgings were refused by cottagers to the men who came back, called 
 "blacks," nineteen of whom received bed and board in the manufac- 
 turer's house. Those who turned out received 9*. weekly and 3*. for 
 each child, from a fund raised among the employed workmen by sub- 
 scriptions oi\\d. and afterwards of Zd. a week. The money came from 
 a committee sitting at Wakefield. Since the 20th of November, the 
 work in witness's factories was carried on with a reduced number of 
 hands. It was of a character to require training ; consequently children 
 were employed, who generally left work with their parents. The strike 
 referred solely to wages ; no attempt having been made to interfere 
 with apprentices or with the conduct of the works, except that some 
 of the "slubbers" threatened to leave on three children who had quitted 
 work being re-employed. The work was all done by piece, the wages 
 ranging from 20s. and 25*. to 30s., 35s., and even £2 a week. " Those 
 who received the most wages were the worst people to deal with." 
 Other turn-outs are mentioned which led to a slight increase of the 
 rate of wages. 
 
 The masters had no combination, and did not even meet to con- 
 sider the rate of wages to be paid for the different kinds of work. 
 
378 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1825. 
 
 SEAMEN. 
 
 [Examined : — SLx Shipowners ; two Officers of the Royal Navy : Secretary to 
 
 Shipowners' Society ; and six Seamen.] 
 
 In the year 1815, great disturbances took place on the Tyne, and 
 in the northern ports, owing to demands made by the seamen, and 
 resisted by the shipowners. The former insisted on having £5 
 per voyage, that every ship should carry five men and a boy for 
 every hundred tons, and dictated as to the persons to be employed 
 as foremen, watermen, &c. They committed great acts of violence, 
 " stopping the ships for about six weeks, boarding the ships when 
 going away, taking the men out and ill-treating them," ducking them, 
 tarring and feathering them, carrying them on a stick and jumping 
 them up, &c. Ten sail of King's ships, five hundred marines, and 
 four regiments came down ; and some of the men were prosecuted 
 and imprisoned both for combination and violence. The seamen had a 
 committee, at the head of which was a person whom they called the 
 Admiral, and whom they implicitly obeyed. No one was allowed to 
 sail from port without a ticket from the committee. The disturb- 
 ances arose from the fact, that discharges from the navy, consequent 
 on the termination of the war, had greatly increased the number of 
 unemployed seamen. 
 
 The evidence, of which a short account follows, refers chiefly to a 
 union, established in 1824 in the ports of the Tyne and Wear, but 
 which had in May, 1825, extended southwards, as far as Yarmouth, 
 and northwards to Leith, and which, beginning with the coUiers, 
 seemed likely to embrace the seamen of the entire merchant navy, 
 and even of the Eoyal Navy. 
 
 With a view of evading the character of illegality, the rules of 
 the Union — so far as it was more than a benefit society — were 
 drawn up in the form of a dialogue between Tom and Harry, 
 this shape being chosen, because, as one of the witnesses explained, 
 " we did not intend any harm, but we were not acquainted whether 
 there was any harm or not." The members of the Union refused 
 to enter vessels in which any of the seamen were unconnected with 
 the Union, or in which the mate was not a member of the Union ; 
 and the delay occasioned to shipowners by this conduct, with the 
 difficulty they experienced in obtaining crews, induced them in 
 almost every case to yield. The seamen further objected to heave 
 out ballast, to fit out ships (in consequence of which riggers had to 
 be employed), to scrape ships, to strip the lower mast, &c. Those of 
 them examined as witnesses expressed their willingness to waive the 
 point of requiring the mates to be members of the Union, in con- 
 sideration of the inconvenience of the mates being amenable to the 
 Committee of the Union should they be called on to take the 
 command of the vessels through the captain being disabled. The 
 seamen examined further explained that they did not object to under- 
 take the above duties when their engagement and pay were by the 
 month instead of by the voyage. In the latter case, the obligation 
 is only " to do that which is necessary to navigate the ship from port 
 to port ;" though it had been customary for a man for the sake of his 
 
Seamen. 379 
 
 situation to come and fit tlie ship out, without being paid for his 
 work. The average time taken in fitting out a ship was a week, 
 though witness had in one instance worked for twenty-eight days 
 without wages. In difiijrent ports there was a difierent usage on 
 this point ; the seamen receiving their dinners and grog at Whitby 
 and Shields, but not in Sunderland; and payment in neither. Wages 
 were never given except by special bargain. When a man was 
 engaged by the month, he expected to receive pay for every day's 
 work ; and the seamen held that they ought to be remunerated for 
 attending the ship in harbour before signing articles, and for la- 
 bourer's work, when employed on it, as discharging coals. 
 
 In case of accident at sea, seamen " were willing to put things to 
 rights'aSjWell as they could, and bring the vessel to her place of desti- 
 nation." Instances alleged by the shipowners of the men refusing to 
 do what was necessary in such emergencies are cited in detail ; and 
 contradicted point blank and in as much detail by the men. The 
 case of the Jane and Margaret, from which, when grounded on the 
 Mapler Sands, the seamen were said to have refused to throw out 
 coal in order to lighten it, is a remarkable example of confiicting 
 testimony. 
 
 Other regulations of the Union prohibited carpenters who were 
 not regular seamen firom acting as mates, owing to the number of acci- 
 dents to which it was alleged that practice had given occasion. If 
 a member of the Union took a comrade's berth (who had been dis- 
 missed for any other than a legal cause), he became liable to a penalty 
 of 20s. The unionists sought to gain their end by a system of moral 
 terrorism rather than of physical violence. The captain of the Arno, 
 having in March, 1825, tried to obtain a crew of sailors not in the 
 Union, the Union men " threatened the captain, and told him to tell 
 his owner that if he took a crew of non-union men into his ship, that 
 as he had several ships, he should not have men to go in any of 
 them." Both captains and owners were afraid of becoming " marked 
 men," and therefore yielded to the demands of the Union, knowing 
 that if they did not, they could not obtain crews. If they succeeded 
 in getting members of the Union committed, others would not take 
 their places. 
 
 Some few acts of violence were alleged ; a non-union crew was 
 brutally ill-used at Sunderland, and the vessel cut adrift in the har- 
 bour. In North Shields, men not belonging to the Union were taken 
 out of the ship, their faces blacked, and themselves hooted and ill-used. 
 In the same place, "sailors were abused and ridiculed and called ' scab- 
 men,' because they would not join the Union." These assertions were 
 denied by the members of the Union examined before the committee ; 
 and it is allowed on the other side, that acts of violence were rare and 
 exceptional. 
 
 The Union (to which almost all the saUors of the ports of the 
 Tyne and Wear belonged) gave rise to a Shipowners' Protecting 
 Society, the members of which agreed to indemnify each other for 
 losses incurred in resisting the demands of the Union ; but it was 
 ineffectual. 
 
380 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1825. 
 
 The great number of apprentices taken on board ship, and its effecb 
 of leaving men on shore to starve, were considered grievances by the 
 members of the Union ; but no interference had taken place. 
 
 YOEKSHIEE WEAVERS :—WAISTCOATING, SHAWLS, 
 AJSHD FANCY GOODS. 
 
 [Examined : — Three Employers and two Journeymen Weavers.] 
 Between September, 1824, and May, 1825, several strikes took, 
 place among the Yorkshire weavers of waistcoating, &c. for an ad- 
 vance of wages. One manufacturer was compelled to pay a fine of 
 £100 to the Huddersfield Union, as compensation for the loss of 
 time his men had incurred by standing out. 
 
 A manufacturer of waistcoat pieces, near Huddersfield, stated that 
 on the Christmas following the first formation of the Union (in 
 September, 1824), he called his men together and told them that ha 
 " had been too long a master to become a servant of servants ;" that 
 he " was quite willing, if they thought it necessary, that his weavers 
 might meet among themselves, but that it was impossible he could 
 stand against the weavers of all the trade, and therefore he was 
 determined he would not employ any weavers who were in the 
 Union." Twenty-four of his men put down their names to abide by 
 the Union, and about forty to remain with him, all but three or 
 four of the former bringing in their gear on the conclusion of the. 
 warp, and declining the master's offer to remain one, two, or three, 
 months, as they might choose, till they could find other work., 
 "After three months' trial," the witness added, "I found it would be 
 really impossible for me to keep on my business, if I did not allow 
 them [the forty men who had remained with him] to enter the 
 Union ; and, as I did not wish them to be longer persecuted, I gave 
 them permission." Up to the time of the step here described, the 
 witness and his workmen had been on the best terms. Violence 
 was not offered to the men who remained with him, but only inti- 
 midation by gestures and threats. A shawl manufacturer at Hud- 
 dersfield, in addition to an advance of wages on a certain part of his 
 manufactures, was compelled to remove another part to Stockport, 
 " where," he says, " every possible obstruction was thrown in his. 
 way to making goods there by the men in the Union." Men whom 
 he attempted to obtain at Huddersfield " conceived themselves in' 
 danger," and went about armed with bludgeons; one was once fol- 
 lowed by three or four men, and " apprehended himself to be in con- 
 siderable danger," though he sustained none. Several men were- 
 engaged from Stockport ; but " the moment they made their appear- 
 ance on the coach in the town (Huddersfield), they were waylaid by 
 the members of the Union, and they were induced, by every state- 
 ment that the weavers could give to them, to abandon the idea of 
 coming into his employ ; and in short, though they engaged in 
 Stockport to come, they did not make their appearance ... at all." 
 No threat or violence was used. Two men were taken before the 
 magistrates at Huddersfield " for going round when one portion 
 of a master's men had struck to induce the others to strikeJ' 
 
Flannel Weavers at Rochdale. 381 
 
 What they said did not amount to threats. The magistrates came 
 to the conclusion that they could not punish them. Brickbats were 
 thrown at factory windows, and one man was violently assaulted ; 
 but these outrages were not conclusively traced back to the Union. 
 The Huddersfield Union spread over a district thirty mUes in cir- 
 cumference, and contained about 5000 men. Members paid Zd. a 
 week till their subscriptions reached £1 ; then the subscription ceased, 
 except in case of a strike. The Union aimed at securing uniformity 
 of wages, but did not object to the masters getting rid of a man who 
 worked badly. Unionist and non-unionist men worked together in 
 ■the same shop, without annoyances being inflicted on the latter. 
 There were no secret oaths, meetings, or bye-laws. Wages and 
 ■alleged unfairness in measurement, on the part of the masters, formed 
 . the principal subjects of grievance among the men. 
 
 FLANNEL WEAVERS AT ROCHDALE. 
 [Examined : — Two Operatives.] 
 
 The Union at Rochdale, which in May, 1825, had existed about 
 eighteen months, consisted of two or three thousand members. 
 There had been only one strike (in December, 1823) befoi'e the repeal 
 of the Combination Laws. In December, 1824, there was a strike, at 
 the invitation of the Union, against a manufacturer who had 
 reduced his wages below the statement of prices paid by the prin- 
 cipal part of the manufacturers since 1815. "It was at the sug- 
 gestion of the manufacturers, who paid to the statement price, that 
 the strike . . . took place." " The weavers have done nothing of 
 themselves without the approbation of the manufacturers." Twelve 
 manufacturers, out of from forty to fifty, subscribed to the strike. 
 In January, 1824, the employer in question, "in consequence of a 
 meeting and communication between the two committees" of mas- 
 ters and men, signed an agreement to pay the statement price. 
 Women were not allowed by the Union to work at weaving; legiti- 
 mate sons of weavers need not be apprenticed; but all others must 
 serve an apprenticeship of seven years. To prevent the trade being 
 overstocked, no master was allowed to have more than two appren- 
 tices. No violence or intimidation had ever been practised or encou- 
 raged by the Union. 
 
 In December, 1823, the Union passed a resolution, to the eifect 
 that, on account of an over-production of goods in the woollen trade, 
 " This meeting do expect that every weaver will cease working by 
 candle, or any other artificial light, after Monday, the 15th instant." 
 This resolution was passed because the manufacturers complained 
 that the markets were overstocked, and "because a letter was sent to 
 the meeting by a respectable manufacturer", requesting them to 
 take that course for three months. 
 
 While the Committee of the House of Commons was sitting, a 
 strike against another manufacturer, who had not only paid wages 
 below the statement, but " had paid his wages in beef and mutton in 
 lieu of money," was amicably settled. 
 
382 Parliamentary Report on Combination, 1824. ^ 
 
 SCOTTISH COLLIERIES. 
 
 [Examined : — Two Coalowners ; two Working Colliers ; and the Prooui'ator- 
 Fiscal of the Eastern District of Stirling.] 
 
 The colliery districts of the west of Scotland appear to have 
 been honourably distinguished from those in other parts of the king- 
 dom, by the abstinence of the men from yiolence or intimidation 
 during their strikes. Nor did the masters attempt to bring their 
 disputes with their workmen to a close by taking legal proceedings 
 against them. This apparent forbearance seems to have been due to 
 the very general belief — which was entertained until a contrary 
 decision of the Court of Justiciary — that the operation of the 
 Combination Laws did not extend to Scotland. i ^ 
 
 In the case of a strike, the masters met the turn-out o#i the 
 men by sending ordinary labourers down into the pits. Thi^Vas 
 done by Mr. Taylor, in Ayrshire, in 1817. No attempt was made 
 to interfere with the new men working; and when the old hands 
 came in again, such of the new ones as chose to remain were suffllred 
 to do so. Strikes, however, seem not to have been (between 1^1- 
 25) the means generally taken to secure a rise of wages. More .fre- 
 quently the colliers adopted the plan of " continuing to work, i,nd 
 endeavouring in every possible way to thwart the masters," as" by 
 " doing only half work, or for days declining to raise coal altogether," 
 thus limiting the supply when he had a demand. 
 
 Associations of workmen of the Ayrshire Collieries were formed 
 in 1817, and in 1824. This strike, undertaken at the bidding of the 
 former, which was defeated by the introduction of new men, in the 
 place of the turn-outs. In consequence, the principal objects of the se- 
 cond combination were, together with increase of wages and rectifica- 
 tion of the measure, to exclude "people who were not colliers before 
 but labourers " from entering the pits, — to effect which, the rule was 
 adopted, that "no neutral man" (that is, no man whose father was not a 
 collier) above the age of twenty years could engage to be a collier with- 
 out paying £7 in hand. Still, if the master insisted in putting him in he 
 wouldbeallowed to work; "but," says another witness, "we would not 
 learn them, if they did not pay our apprentice fee. It is admitted on 
 behalf of the employers, that apart from this regulation, of the en- 
 forcement of which only one instance was adduced, the association did 
 not interfere with the apprentices whom the master chose to take; 
 though they objected to the introduction of other men from another 
 coUiery, unless they settled with the men of the colliery to which 
 they came ; that is, paid them some money. Over-men were not 
 called on to become members of the association, nor were the 
 superintendents of work ever interfered with. 
 
 With the exceptions above noted, the Association did not meddle 
 with a master for employing any one whom he pleased, whether or not 
 a member of the Association, at any wages he might think fit. 
 Members of the Association were at liberty to work for reduced wages, 
 though if they left their employment in consequence of such reduc- 
 tion, they would be supported by the Association for a fortnight, or 
 until they found work. The Association does not appear to have had 
 
Scottish Collieries. 383 
 
 fiinds permanently in hand, money having been levied only to meet 
 an emergency. Hence, no members seem to have been struck off 
 for refusing to pay, or being in arrears ; nor were they in any way 
 molested. The operative witnesses examined before the Committee 
 deny that combination was in any way of a secret character, there being 
 no private bye-laws or oaths, or other rules than those which appeared 
 in the printed regulations of the society. Anybody might attend its 
 meetings, though none but members did so. An opposite impression 
 on the part of the masters seems to have arisen, from their con- 
 founding it with a distinct body, " the Brotherhood of the Colliery," 
 which had nothing to do with strikes, or with the support of strikes. 
 
 Several masters determining not to employ members of the Associ- 
 ation, and the masters generally agreeing not to employ men from 
 other collieries who did not bring certificates of good conduct and 
 of a discharge, men were induced to come in, and received on their 
 renunciation of the Association. 
 
 During the strike, there was little violence, according to the 
 masters ; none at all, " not an angry word," according to the men. 
 
 OTHER COMBINATIONS IN SCOTLAND. 
 [Examined : — The Sheriff-substitute of Renfrewshire ; and the Sheriff-depute of 
 
 Lanarkshire.] 
 I. EENTEE WSHIRE . 
 
 Pkioe to the passing of Mr. Hume's Act, the combinations in 
 Renfrewshire in which the magistrates had to interpose were — 
 1. That of the weavers, between 1810 and 1812; 2. That of the 
 ealico-printers in 1814; — both of which, though marked by intimida- 
 tion and violence, were yet free from gross acts of criminality or 
 cruelty — and, 3. That of the cotton-spinners, from the year 1820 to 
 1823 inclusive. In December, 1820, an attempt was made to shoot 
 Mr. Orr, manager of the Underwood cotton-mill at Paisley, on the 
 night before his marriage, by discharging two pistols loaded with 
 buUets at him, which missed him ; in November, 1823, WiUiam 
 Kerr, who had accepted work in place of Pullerton, dismissed, was 
 shot at with a pistol loaded with small shot and wounded in the 
 right arm and right thigh. In January, 1821, an attempt was made 
 by one MacNicol to shoot James Henderson, a cotton-spinner. In 
 September, 1823, Robert Todd, who had taken work in place of some 
 persons protected by the combination, was shot at for the second time 
 and wounded with small shot, in his own house, as he was stepping 
 in to bed. He had previously been waylaid, in company with his 
 wife and child, and severely beaten. The people by whom these 
 crimes were committed were known by the name of " the Ring." 
 They were also employed "to go backwards and forwards intimida- 
 ting workmen by direct threats, written and verbal, and indirectly 
 telling them to take care, to remember what happened in such 
 another place, &c." In two instances, people were assaulted with oil 
 of vitriol. Owing to the conviction of the assailants of Kerr and the 
 offenders in the other cases mentioned; to the fact of a strike, to the 
 support of which they had to contribute, being then on foot in Lanark- 
 shire ; and to the master cotton-spihners simultaneously stopping work, 
 
384 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1824. 
 
 thus putting dowu the combination for a time, and dismissing the 
 ringleaders, — there had been for more than a year entire tranquillity. 
 
 It was customary to place sentinels before a shop which was 
 obnoxious, or to collect in numbers around it, so as to warn off or 
 intimidate the workmen, as they came to and left their work. 
 
 The evidence connecting acts of violence with the combination 
 (when distinct proof or confession was not procurable) is to be 
 found in the fact that such acts never took place at any other time 
 than during a struggle between the workmen and their employers; 
 that they were generally made by persons belonging to the same 
 trade, and who were out of work at the time, having no visible 
 means of livelihood, but nevertheless enabled to spend a good deal of 
 money in drinking, and very generally strangers to the persons who 
 were the objects of attack. 
 
 II. LANAEKSHIEE . 
 
 In Glasgow, since 1822, and before the jsassing of Mr. Hume's 
 Act, there were four cases of throwing vitriol, frightfully injuring 
 and defoi'ming the sufferers. In 1823 there was a conspiracy among 
 the j)ower-loom weavers to assassinate one master and five spinning 
 masters. At the same time a cotton-mill was attacked, and the 
 military had to be called in. There were four cases of attempted 
 assassination before Mr. Hume's Act, and three subsequently, all 
 within four or five months (from May, 1825). The most remarkable 
 of these was that of John Kean, who, with some others, was hired for 
 £100 to assassinate John Graham and four masters, by the Committee 
 of the Cotton-Spinners' Union of Glasgow. The oath by which the com- 
 bined cotton-spinners bound themselves was in the following tenns: — 
 
 "I, A. B., do voluntarily swear, in the awful presence of Almighty 
 God, and before these witnesses, that I will execute with zeal and 
 alacrity, as far as in me lies, every task or injunction which the ma- 
 jority of my brethren shall impose upon me, in furtherance of our 
 common welfare ; as the chastisement of knobs, the assassination of 
 oppressive and tyrannical masters, or demolition of the shops that shall 
 be incorrigible; and also that I will cheerfully contribute to the 
 support of such of my brethren as shall lose their work in conse- 
 quence of their exertions against tyranny, or renounce it in re- 
 sistance to a reduction of wages. And I do further swear that I will 
 never divulge the above obligation, unless I shall have been duly 
 authorized and appointed to administer the same to persons making 
 application for admission, or to persons constrained to become mem- 
 bers, of our fraternity." 
 
 A select committee of three persons, whose names were not known 
 to the operatives, were chosen by the district committees, and 
 changed every two months. 
 
 No act of violence had been committed by other associations of 
 Glasgow unconnected with the cotton trade. 
 
 The evidence taken by the committee with respect to combinations 
 in Dublin, not presenting any characteristic features different from 
 those brought out before the committee of 1824, it hfs not been 
 thought necessary to include them in this abstract. 
 
ABSTRACT 
 
 or THE 
 
 EVIDENCE ON COMBINATIONS OE WOEKMEN, 
 
 TAKEN BEFORE A SELECT COMMITTEE OF THE 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS IN 1838. 
 
 PKEPAEED FOK 
 
 ®tje National ^ssaciatinn for tfje promotion of Social Science, 
 
 AT THE BEQUEST OP THE COMMITTEE ON TEADES' SOCIETIES. 
 
 Bt GODFREY LUSIIINGTON, 
 
 BAKKISTER-AT-LAW. 
 
 On the 13th of February, 1838, a Select Committee was ordered by 
 the House of Commons to be appointed to inquire into the operation 
 of the Act 6 Geo. IV. c. 129 (the Act, commonly called Mr. Hume's 
 Act, repealing the Combination Acts), and generally into the consti- 
 tution, proceedings and extent of any trades' unions or combinations 
 of workmen, or employers of workmen in the United Kingdom, and 
 to report their observations to the House. The appointment of the 
 Committee originated in a discussion in the House of Commons, 
 February 13th, respecting the conviction on January 11th of five 
 Glasgow cotton spinners for conspiracy and illegal .combination, and 
 their sentence to seven years' transportation. 
 
 The Committee had power to send for persons, papers, or records. 
 It consisted of tTie following members, 
 
 The Lord Advocate. Mr. Milnes. 
 
 Lord Granville Somerset. Mr. Hindley. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell. Mr. Pringle. 
 
 Lord Viscount Lowther. Mr. Wakley. 
 
 Mr. Charles Villiers. Mr. Ward. 
 
 Mr. Hume. Mr. John Young. 
 
 Sir Henry Parnell. Mr. Poulett Thompson. 
 
 Mr. Crawford. 
 In March Lord Viscount Lowther was discharged from further 
 attendance, and Lord Ashley added to the Committee. 
 
 In June the Comm.ittee, after having examined several witnesses, 
 reported to the House the minutes of evidence, which were printed 
 by order and form the first report. In July a second report con- 
 taining further evidence was printed. 
 
 The substance of these two reports is the subject of the present 
 paper. 
 
 The Committee received evidence concerning the following trades; — 
 Cotton-spinners of Manchester, Glasgow, and Belfast. 
 Calico printers of Belfast. 
 
 c c 
 
Missing Page 
 
Missing Page 
 
• of Dublin. 
 
 388 Parliamentanj Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 Printers of Dublin and Ireland generally. 
 Sbip-wrights, 
 Canal Boatmen, 
 Builders, including 
 
 Bricklayers, 
 
 Sawyers, 
 
 Carpenters, 
 
 Plasterers, 
 
 Painters, 
 The sum of the evidence may be stated as follows : — 
 
 1. In all the trades, except the Dublin shipbuilding trade, the 
 market was greatly overstocked with unskilled labour. 
 
 2. This overstock in the cotton spinning trade was to be attributed 
 to the necessary custom for each spinner to have the assistance of 
 several boys, who thus in course of time themselves become spinners : 
 but in the printing and building trades it was occasioned by the 
 artificial multiplication of apprentices and importation of country 
 workmen made with a view to cheapen labour. 
 
 3. Some restriction upon the number of apprentices was requisite : 
 but the rules of the Union made for this purpose were vexatious : these 
 rules were in the printing trade strictly enforced against all employers, 
 in the building trades against irregular employers only. 
 
 4. The trade of cotton spinners and printers was expanding, of 
 Dublin builders decreasing, of Dublin shipbuilders almost extinct. 
 
 5. Generally, wages were tending to fall, owing to the competition 
 of masters to undersell each other, and the oversupply of labour. 
 
 6. The union-rules which were found most inconvenient to masters 
 and most frequently led to strikes were as follows. 
 
 a. Prohibitions to unionists to work with non-unionists. 
 
 b. Prohibitions against piecework. 
 
 c. The establishment of a uniform wage. 
 
 d. Restrictions upon the number of apprentices. 
 
 7. In all the trades, strikes against individual masters were fre- 
 quent. In the cotton spinning trade there had been two general 
 strikes against a reduction of wages consequent upon the introduction 
 of enlarged machinery, one at Manchester in 1829, the other at 
 Glasgow in 1837 : in the printing and building trades there had 
 been no general strike since the change of the Irish currency in 
 1826. 
 
 8. The eiFect of the repeal of the combination laws upon the con- 
 duct of strikes had been in general beneficial. In the printing trade 
 there was a little violence : amongst cotton spinners some violence, 
 but not much, and that arising chiefly out of collision with the men 
 imported to succeed those on strike, — this collision being partly un- 
 avoidable from the large number of operatives displaced at the same 
 time, partly engendered by the custom of the Union to " picket" the 
 mills with " guards." But in the Dublin Canal trade there existed a 
 complete system of intimidation and oppression by the Union: and 
 in the Dublin building trades outrages were still of constant occur- 
 
Cotton- Spinners. 389 
 
 rence against that section, of masters who are termed irregular em- 
 ployers. 
 
 9. A fortnight's notice on either side, previous to a change in the 
 rate of wages, would be a preventive of strikes. 
 
 10. As a class, unionists were pronounced by the majority of 
 masters to be more highly skilled operatives, and more respectable 
 men than others in the trade. 
 
 11. The effect of combination upon wages was variously repre- 
 sented by the masters. In the opinion of all masters (with one excep- 
 tion) in the spinning and printing trades, combination has no effect 
 upon wages; in the opinion of all masters in the building trade it 
 keeps them up, but whether to a fair or unfair height is a disputed 
 point. Amongst ship builders, combination, by limiting apprentices 
 and requiring a uniform wage, was said to have raised wages to such 
 an extent as to ruin trade. Unionists, as a rule, were in the receipt 
 of higher wages than non-unionists. And the wages of cotton- 
 spinners in Glasgow and Manchester, where combinations existed, 
 were higher than the wages of the same trade in Belfast, where there 
 was no combination. 
 
 [N.B. — Henceforth throughout this paper, for the sake of perspicuity, present 
 tense is made to refer to the date of the Reports, the year 1838.] 
 
 COTTON-SPINNERS. 
 
 The two general strikes of the Cotton-Spinners, the one at Man- 
 chester, in the year 1829, the other at Glasgow, in 1837, arose from 
 the same cause, the introduction of large machinery, and the conse- 
 quent alteration of the scale of wages. 
 
 A spinning machine is worked by one man; his chief labour con- 
 sists in returning along the iron rails to the steam-engine the mule 
 carriage which contains the spindles: he has also other mechanical 
 operations to perform, and carefully to mend any of the very nume- 
 rous threads that may be broken in the process ; he is assisted by 
 piecers, little children, between the age of nine and thirteen, who 
 pass under the machine and cleanse it from the dust, which rapidly 
 accumulates and spoils the twist. He is paid by the piece, so 
 much per lb. of twist produced, and formerly the wages for each 
 lb. of twist were uniform, irrespective of the size of the machine 
 by which it was produced. At that time this arrangement was fair 
 enough ; machines did not vary very much in size, or at all events 
 the number of spindles on a machine was rarely much in excess of 
 three hundred. But it was soon found that a single spinner could 
 manage a machine containing many more spindles, if only he was 
 supplied with more piecers in proportion, and an additional pair of 
 wheels for the mule carriage. In either case the number of spindles 
 determines the amount of twist produced ; six hundred spindles on 
 one machine will produce twist of nearly as good a quality, and within 
 seven per cent, of the same amount that six hundred spindles on two 
 machines wil! produce. It also determines the amount of labour to the 
 spinner ; for a spinner managing a machine with six hundred spindles, 
 
 cc2 
 
390 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 as compared with one managing a machine with three hundred 
 spindles, has nearly twice the weight to move, and twice the care to 
 bestow. Still a spinner can work a machine of six hundred spindles, 
 and for a time at least one of one thousand spindles. This uniform 
 rate of wages, it is clear, prevented the masters who had this enlarged 
 machinery from making any advantage by it; two masters might 
 manufacture the same amount of twist in a day; the one who had 
 a large machine would employ but one man, the other who had 
 two small machines would employ two; yet as each paid by the 
 pound of twist, they would both pay the same wages. Still for a 
 period the owners of the small machines maintained this system of 
 uniform payment; but at last the time came, to Manchester in 1829, 
 to Glasgow in 1837, when the proprietors of the heavy machines 
 insisted that a reduction should be made upon the wages, in propor- 
 tion to the increase of the number of spindles. The proprietors of 
 the smaller machines had indeed not much object in resistance, for 
 two smaller machines can be converted into one large one by simply 
 coupling their wheels together; a process by which the spinner finds 
 himself, as one deponent describes, in the position of a horse who has 
 at the same time to draw two carts yoked to one another. In both 
 Manchester and G-lasgow, the principle of the change proposed by 
 the masters was, that a standard price should be fixed for work done 
 by a machine of a standard size, and that from all wages earned upon 
 larger machines there should be deducted a percentage, progressively 
 increasing with the number of spindles. Thus at Manchester, the 
 standard size was fixed to be a mule carriage containing three hundred 
 and thirty-six spindles; at Glasgow, one containing three hundred 
 spindles; the deduction was to be, at Manchester 1 J per cent., at Glas- 
 gow 1 per cent., for every twelve spindles, which the machine had 
 exceeding the standard number. 
 
 This change was very obnoxious to the men for several reasons. 
 In the first place it led to extensive dismissal. For every 300 
 spindles added to a machine, by the method of yoking the wheels, a 
 man was dismissed, — a hardship, not only to the men thus dismissed, 
 but to others; for it threw more hands into the labour market, already 
 overstocked, and thereby tended to bring about a further reduction 
 of wages. In the next place, the heavier machines had always been 
 disliked, for, as has been stated, the labour and anxiety of the spin- 
 ner increase in proportion to the number of spindles. And this evil 
 the men saw would, under the new system of wages, become at once 
 universal and intensified. Universal, because every employer would 
 make a point of having large, and not small, machines, that he might 
 have the benefit of the deduction from the wages. Intensified, because 
 every employer would have his machines not only large, but as large 
 as possible, since the deduction rose in exact proportion to the increase 
 of the number of spindles. The tendency would be to have all the 
 machines carry 1000 spindles. 
 
 What exertion is required to work such a machine, may be esti- 
 mated from facts put in evidence. Constructed upon the lightest 
 
Cotton- Spinners. 391 
 
 principle, a mule carriage for spinning fine numbers and carry- 
 ing 816 spindles, weighs with all apparatus 15J cwt., a mail coach 
 weighing only about 18 cwt. A mule carriage for spinning coarse 
 numbers and carrying 336 spindles is of a heavier construction, 
 and weighs 14 cwt. The spinner has two such machines to attend 
 to and manage alternately. Each machine runs on eight wheels 
 over a railway six feet long to the steam-engine, and has to be 
 returned by the spinner this distance to the steam-engine 2,500 times 
 in the twelve hours ; and the force required to be exerted every 
 time by the spinner so returning it, is 160 lbs. or |ths of the ordinary 
 power of a horse. The operatives depose that no one can work these 
 large machines continuously without requiring one or two days' rest in 
 the week ; that in one mill, where these machines were adopted, the 
 increase of sickness amongst the men became very apparent; and it 
 is in great measure to the undue labour entailed by heavy machines 
 that they attribute the excess of mortality in the manufacturing 
 towns (calculated by one table drawn up in 1832 to be 50 j)er cent.) 
 over the mortality in agricultural districts. This danger of over- 
 work was necessarily a very serious consideration, on account of the 
 long hours observed in the manufacturing districts, — a day's work 
 being considered twelve clear hours of labour, except on Saturday. 
 
 But the chief cause of complaint was the amount of the per- 
 centage deduction. The deduction from the gross wages would range, 
 in Glasgow, as the number of spindles varied from 300 to 1000, from 
 -1 to 58 per cent. ; in Manchester, as the number of spindles varied 
 from 336 to 1000, from 1 to 83 per cent. The practical effect was, 
 that the net sum realized by a spinner, working 600 or 1000 spin- 
 dles, exceeded but by very little the net sum realized by a spinner 
 working 300 spindles with half or one-third of the labour. In 
 other words, the labour of the spinner was tremendously increased, 
 with nothing like an equivalent in the increase of the pay. And 
 nothing would prevent this system pushing itself still further and 
 further, until the largest machine should be introduced, which a 
 single spinner could work continuously for two or three days together,. 
 or even for one day only. 
 
 It was against the introduction of this system, entailing such 
 momentous consequences to the whole trade, that the general strikes 
 took place at Manchester and Glasgow. The Manchester masters 
 proposed it in 1829: the Glasgow masters followed their example 
 in 1837. In both cases the strikes were long and desperately 
 contested; in Manchester for six months, in Glasgow for four. In 
 both, they were completely unsuccessful for the men. The effect of 
 these strikes seems to have been different upon the masters and the 
 men. The Glasgow masters are all* of opinion that the unions are 
 injurious to the operative, though they attribute to them different 
 evils. One supposes that by conducting unsuccessful strikes, they 
 depress wages; the other, that, by opposing masters, they keep up 
 wages, but that the gain thus acquired is more than lost, by the 
 contributions to the Union, and by the habits of intemperance pro- 
 
392 Parliamentary Reports on Comhinations, 1838 — 
 
 duced by the Society. But, as regards the operatives, these two 
 disastrous failures do not appear to have shaken their faith in their 
 Union. Their experience leads them to think that partial strikes 
 against individual masters vrill still be successful, and that even 
 general strikes, though they completely miss their immediate object, 
 are not pure losses to the men, inasmuch as the fear of their recurrence 
 tends to prevent, though it can never altogether prevent, future 
 attempts at unfair reduction in vfages. " Without a Union," one 
 witness says, " our wages would be reduced to nothing." But the 
 operatives drew one inference from these two general strikes — viz. : 
 that no Operatives' Union of a single trade can succeed against 
 a combined Association of Masters. And the result of this belief 
 was, that after the strike of 1829 various efforts were made to form 
 a Union of wider extent than the men of a single trade in a single 
 locality. A " National Association for the Protection of Labour" 
 was started, intended to be a union of aU trades and with the 
 professed object to prevent reductions, but in no case to procure 
 advances of wages, and its claims were circulated by a paper called 
 " The Voice of the People." There was organized also a combina- 
 tion of all spinners in England, Scotland and Ireland, over 100,000 
 in number, and a meeting was held in the Isle of Man ; but these 
 societies seem to have been quite ephemeral. 
 
 Strikes of cotton-spinners in one respect are more serious than 
 strikes of men in other trades. Upon every spinner there are di- 
 rectly dependent about seven other workmen, piecers, card-hands, &c. 
 If he strikes, they too are thrown out of employment, until he returns. 
 
 The evidence shows that the labour market of the cotton-spinners, 
 both in Manchester and Glasgow, was greatly over supplied, so much 
 so, that no increase of demand for cotton had any perceptible effect 
 on the rate of wages; and further, that this excess of supply had a 
 tendency to increase itself. The causes of this seem to be twofold: 
 first, the enlargement of the small machines into the larger ones, 
 which involved the dismissal of one workman to every 300 additional 
 spindles ; secondly, the nature of the trade which breeds up more 
 persons to the business than can be supported by it. Each spin- 
 ner requires three piecers, who must be little children between 
 the ages of nine and fourteen; these therefore must be changed every 
 four years ; and when they leave him, they naturally take to the spin- 
 ning trade, of which they have already acquired some experience. 
 And for a spinner working 600 or 1000 spindles, double or treble 
 the number of piecers would he required. 
 
 As to other matters the evidence also went to show, that the 
 Factory Act is not carried out ; that children under thirteen are 
 universally made to work twelve hours per diem, instead of eight, 
 the legitimate time ; and that this can hardly be otherwise, for it 
 is impossible to procure relays of children to act as piecers to 
 the spinners, who work twelve hours per diem, and that sometimes, 
 so great is the pressure, children under nine years of age are put 
 to work by their own parents. 
 
Manchester Cotton-Spinners. 393 
 
 The operatives further stated that the hours of work for adults^ 
 69 per week — were already too many, and that, now that the heavy 
 machines are becoming common, there is greater necessity than 
 ever for a curtailment of them; and that the object of every Union 
 is to procure a passing of a ten hours' bill. 
 
 MANCHESTER COTTON-SPINNERS. 
 
 [Witnesses :— A Stipendiary Magistrate of Manchester, appointed in 1825 ; three 
 Operatives, two of them being Secretaries to the Union.] 
 
 The Cotton-Spinners' Union comprises aboutj 1,060 out of the 
 1,500 spinners in Manchester; its constitution consists of wardens, 
 council-men, and presidents ; each shop elects one warden for every 
 twenty-five members belonging to it ; every five wardens elect one 
 of their number to be a Council-man; the Council-men elect their 
 own President. The Councilmen are each paid about Qd. or Sd. every 
 night there is a meeting ; there is also an Acting Secretary receiving 
 25s. per week. The subscription to the Society is Id. weekly. 
 The benefits are the following : — If a member of six months' standing 
 gets discharged for anything not occasioned by his own misconduct, 
 he is entitled to one-half of the monies that he has paid to the 
 Society; there is a funeral allowance of £5; and a sum of £6 or £7 
 is distributed weekly amongst the unemployed, to keep them from 
 starvation. 
 
 Between 1824 and 1829 there were ten or twelve partial strikes 
 against individual masters, for the most part not very successful. 
 
 In March, 1829, began the general strike of the fine-spinners, 
 which continued for six months, and ended in the submission of the 
 men to the masters' demands. The cause of the strike was that the 
 masters proposed a new list, whereby no longer a uniform price was 
 paid in all cases without deduction, but a price per lb. having 
 been fixed for all twist manufactured by machines containing 336 
 spindles, a deduction was made at the rate of IJ per cent, for 
 every twelve spindles beyond 336. This, in the extreme case (to 
 which there is an obvious tendency) of a machine containing in 
 all 1000 spindles, that is 664 extra spindles, would amount to 83 
 per cent, deduction on gross wages. Practically the wage would be 
 reduced from a range of 28«. to 50s., to a range of 24*. to 40s., or 
 to an average of 30s. per week. At least this was the masters' 
 representation. An operative estimated the change to be a reduc- 
 tion upon the former scale of wages of 30 per cent. This list the 
 masters justified in an address, issued by them to the public, on the 
 score of necessity; trade could not, they said, be continued in 
 Manchester on any other method ; cotton-yarn had fallen in value ; 
 the current rates of labour were 15 to 40 per cent, lower in the 
 neighbouring districts than in Manchester; and, whilst the price of 
 other labour had diminished, spinners' wages had been stationary for 
 thirteen years. 
 
 On the list being issued, according to the representation of the 
 secretary of the Union during the time of the strike, the men 
 
394 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 appointed a deputation to see the masters, to induce tliem, if possible, 
 either to give up the proposed reduction, or to give time to the men. 
 to ascertain whether it was practicable to get the other masters in the 
 surrounding districts to pay Manchester prices, and the deputation 
 was authorized, in case these other masters refused, to consent to tha 
 proposed reduction. The masters, however, declined to allow any- 
 time for such inquiries, and, as is proved in the case of one master 
 who was willing to compromise the matter with his men, compelled 
 all the members of the Masters' Association at once to adopt, with- 
 out deviation, the proposed list, by threats of enforcing a penalty bond 
 of £500 against any refractory member, and of underselling him in 
 the market. The leaders of the Union thought a strike unadvisable, 
 and, with a view to convince the men of this, proposed that every 
 man who was likely to be called into the strike should send in a 
 written statement of the number of weeks he could do without pay, 
 and the name of the piece of furniture in his house he would con- 
 ^5ent to sell, and its probable value. Contrary to the expectation of 
 the leaders, the returns showed an amount of £300 which the men 
 were ready to contribute, besides the loss of their wages, and con- 
 firmed the men in their intention to strike. The strike accordingly 
 took place of all the fine spinners in Manchester. J 
 
 From March to September, a period of twenty-three weeks, the fine 
 spinners were supported by their own Union funds, contributed chiefly 
 by the coarse spinners, who were still employed, and whom the 
 change did not effect; but on the 2nd of September seventeen masters, 
 spinners of coarse yarns, gave notice to their men that from the 12th 
 inst. they must undergo a reduction of 5 per cent., unless they would 
 sign a document by which they pledged themselves in no way to 
 support the spinners who were turned out, and, in case of their being 
 discovered to do so, agree to forfeit a fortnight's wages to their 
 masters. Eather than sign this document the coarse spinners struck ; 
 so all the spinners were now idle. But the greatest distress pre- 
 vailed; the weekly allowance distributed did not exceed 2s. 3d. per 
 week to each man, though he might have a wife and family. About 
 the 20th of September the Union applied to the churchwardens, 
 sending them a resolution, whereby the men expressed themselves 
 willing to make a concession of about one-half of the masters' 
 demands, and begged the churchwardens to interfere, and bring 
 about a meeting of an equal number of masters and men, to settle 
 the question. The churchwardens declined. J 
 
 The leaders of the Union were now most anxious that the strike 
 should terminate, even though it entailed a complete concession on 
 the part of the men; they called a meeting, but the decision arrived 
 at was that the strike should last for six months longer. The 
 leaders, however, not yet bafiled, then proposed that there should 
 be another voting, and that by ballot, and without any preliminary 
 speeches. The ballot accordingly was taken, and the result was out 
 of 700 votes a majority of three in favour of continuing the strike; 
 but the leading members, so great was their anxiety for a close of 
 
Manchester Cotton- Spinners. 395 
 
 the contest, announced that there was a minority of seven. By this 
 device the strike was closed, after a duration of six months, and the 
 men then returned to work upon the masters' terms. 
 
 On behalf of the Union generally, the men state that in Manchester 
 labour is free; that there is no law prohibiting unionists from work- 
 ing with non-unionists ; and that there has been no strike for an advance 
 of wages, but only against reductions, and those are alleged to be 
 undue reductions. They also give evidence to the following effect. 
 
 (1.) That the Union is reluctant to enter into strikes. The 
 understood practice of the Society is that no strike is supported 
 which has not previously received the sanction of the committee. 
 The grievance must first be laid before the committee by those suffer- 
 ing from it; a deputation is then appointed to sift into the matter, 
 and afterwards to reason with the master. It is not till after his refusal 
 to give redress that the strike is allowed. It often happens, says 
 the witness, that the deputation finds that the men have mis- 
 represented the master, and then they receive not aid, but a repri- 
 mand. One instance, out of ten or twelve which ■ could have been 
 given, is this. There was a shop in Manchester, in which all the 
 men had been in the habit of turning out one day without the know- 
 ledge of the committee, and the next day, having made matters 
 agreeable with the master, of going back to work. At last the 
 master refused to take any of them back, and then they applied to 
 the committee for support. The committee at once sent a deputation 
 to the master, and informed him that the strikes had been without 
 their sanction, and that the men would receive no support from the 
 Society. After some conversation with the deputation, the master 
 agreed to receive the men back into his service, upbn condition that 
 in future there should be no strike without first sending to him a 
 deputation from the committee. The men returned to work, and 
 after that made no strike of the same kind. The leaders are not 
 eager to bring the men into a strike, as is shown by their devices to 
 prevent the strike of 1829, and also to bring it to a close in the , 
 manner above mentioned; nor have they any pecuniary object inr 
 conducting a strike. 
 
 (2.) That when a strike has been commenced the Union is ready 
 to submit the matter to an amicable settlement. In the strike of 
 1829 the Union, as above mentioned, applied to the churchwardens 
 to bring about a joint committee of masters and men, to arrange the 
 wages, and expressed themselves willing to accept a large reduction. 
 In a dispute in 1831 the men accepted a reduction of about Is. per 
 week on the average, in order not to prolong the strike. 
 
 (3.) That the Union discountenances any violence on the part 
 of those on strike. At a general meeting of the Society, held in 
 December, 1836, it was unanimously agreed: that "Any person or 
 persons molesting any of Mr. Faulkner's knobsticks shall not be 
 countenanced by the Society, considering that if we gain the just 
 rights of our labour we must preserve the peace." The secretary of 
 
396 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 the Union states that between 1825 and 1838 only twenty or twenty- 
 two charges had been brought before the magistrates against the 
 operatives in the Union; and that only one of these persons had been 
 convicted ; and this act of violence had arisen in a dispute at a public- 
 house. It is also averred that, during the strike of 1829, not one 
 master had been molested, not one farthing's worth of property had 
 been destroyed, and not one breach of the peace committed, with 
 the single exception above mentioned. Mr. Foster, the stipendiary 
 magistrate, on the other hand, deposes (without, however, specify- 
 ing any cases), that in or about 1829 there were several cases of 
 partial violence arising out of obstructions thrown in the way of 
 new hands going to their work in the place of those who had turned 
 out, and that some persons were summarily convicted; that there were 
 some, but very few, deliberate assaults; and that the picketing of 
 mills in times of strike operated as a very effectual intimidation in 
 most instances, and placed the master under the greatest possible 
 difficulty in supplying himself with hands. Mr. Foster, however, 
 adds, that the cotton spinners are, like the manufacturing population 
 in general, a very well-conducted class in respect to any tendency to 
 riot or breaches of the peace. 
 
 The operatives furnished instances of masters refusing to employ 
 unionists, dismissing unionists, throwing upon the spinner the fines 
 for breaches of the Factory Act, and instigating unionists to strike 
 against other masters by whom they were being undersold. 
 
 GLASGOW COTTON-SPINNEES. 
 
 [Witnesses : — Three Master Spinners ; Three Operative Spinners ; the Sheriff of 
 Lanarkshire ; the Legal Agent of the Operatives' Union.] 
 
 The Glasgow master cotton-spinners have a combination of a some- 
 what mysterious character ; they have no written rules, no fixed times 
 or places of meeting, no regular subscriptions or expenses, except 
 a charge on each master at so much for every thousand spindles 
 worked in his factory, for the support of a secretary. Practically 
 they form a very strong body. 
 
 The operatives' Union numbers about 750 out of the 1000 spinners 
 in Glasgow; its principal rules are in substance as follows: — 
 
 Art. 1. This Association to be termed the Association of Opera- 
 tive Cotton Spinners in Glasgow, and to have for its only object the 
 supporting of prices, and enabling its members to obtain a fair remu- 
 neration for their labour. 
 
 Art. 2. The aifairs of the Association to be conducted by the dele- 
 gates, and a committee of twelve. 
 
 Art. 3. Each shop to contribute one delegate. 
 
 Art. 9. The committee to observe that the funds of the Association 
 do not at any time fall below £1000; and the committee with the 
 delegates to have power to vary the fortnightly instalments from 9d. 
 to 2s., according as the current fortnightly expenditure which ranges 
 from £10 to £70. No instalment to be levied above 2s., without a 
 vote of the Association. 
 
Glasgow Cotton- Spinners. 397 
 
 Art. 16. Any person may be admitted a member of tliis Associa- 
 tion -who has served a regular time as a piecer in the Glasgow dis- 
 trict, and is in possession of a pair of wheels, and has received the 
 approbation of the trade, upon payment of £1 3s. 
 
 Art. 12. Members to submit to the majority; that majority, in 
 cases of strikes or alterations of articles, to be two-thirds of the votes 
 returned. 
 
 ^ Art. 13. No shop, or individual or individuals in a shop, considering 
 himself or themselves aggrieved, shall have liberty to strike work 
 upon any pretence whatever without giving an intimation at a dele- 
 gate meeting in due form. The case shall then be fully considered, 
 and, in all cases relating to strikes or threatened reduction, a general 
 vote be taken; and if the proposition be carried, the men shall 
 cease to work. Any member on strike is at liberty to take wheels, 
 wherever he can find them, at the standard price. 
 
 Art. 17. Any member losing his employment, and not more than 
 3*. in debt, shall be entitled to the benefit of the " clear idle" men 
 for the period of thirty-four weeks from the date of his being enrolled 
 on their books, which must be at least two weeks after leaving 
 work. 
 
 Art. 14. No individual shall be allowed to take wheels in any shop 
 where any allowable strike or dispute between the men and their 
 masters is existing, and until the said strike or dispute is considered 
 settled by the Association, and by an order from the committee to 
 that effect. Any member acting otherwise shall be expelled the 
 Association. 
 
 Art. 15. This Association binds and obliges every one of its mem- 
 bers to refrain from instructing any individual in the art of spinning, 
 except such as are sons or brothers of a spinner, who may have been 
 or is at present a member of this Association; and it must be re- 
 membered that such persons can only be admissible by having served 
 them as piecers; and in order that individuals, having admissible 
 piecers, may not take advantage of their neighbour, they are strictly 
 prohibited from allowing such piecers to spin in their absence, and 
 they must foUow their draws, and overlook them in all their instruc- 
 tions and practice. 
 
 Art. 19. Funeral money to be £4. 
 
 Art. 21. The committee to take a room not connected with a 
 public-house, to accommodate both themselves and the idle men. 
 
 Art. 24. General expenses: — 
 
 Each committee man, £2 per quarter. 
 
 The clerk, 1 5s. per week. 
 
 President of the meeting. Is. per night. 
 
 Directors, 6d. per night. 
 
 Delegates, 6d. per night. 
 
 Aliment to each man on strike, \2s. per week. 
 
 No. 60, per week, £6.* 
 
 * To what class No. 60 refers, does not appear. 
 
398 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 It -will be observed that some rules, usual with Trade Associations, 
 are not found here; there is nothing to prevent unionists working 
 with non-unionists, or to enforce the payment of the same price for 
 the same work done; nothing to prevent the employment of women, 
 &c. 
 
 During the existence of the Combination Laws, the meetings of 
 the operatives were private, and an oath was required upon admis- 
 sion ; upon their abolition the custom was discontinued, but the pro- 
 ceedings for some two years — viz., from 1825 to 1827 — remained 
 more or less private, because, according to the representations of an 
 operative (which, however, are repudiated by masters), distinguished 
 members of the Union were subjected to systematic persecution. 
 Publicity was finally established, when the masters or their Associa- 
 tion recognised the existence of the operatives' Union. In 1826, a 
 general reduction, amounting to twenty-two or twenty-three per 
 cent., was made in wages, and accepted unresistingly by the men. 
 For the next ten years no change in wages was effected; once a re- 
 duction was proposed, but the Union, finding that it was not sanc- 
 tioned by the majority of masters, gave notice of resistance, and no , 
 reduction took place. These ten years, however, were not free 
 from partial strikes, which arose for the redress of some particular 
 grievances not connected with wages, as the employment of an un- 
 popular foreman, of obnoxious men, &c.; or were directed against 
 individual masters, who were endeavouring to lower wages. The 
 latter description of strikes, the operatives depose, was instigated by 
 masters paying standard wages, and who threatened to reduce them, 
 if they were undersold by masters paying less than standard wages. 
 The masters examined contradict this statement, and disown all con- 
 nexion with men on strike. The truth seems to be that the insti- 
 gation was real, though of an indirect character, and that masters, if 
 they have no fear for themselves, do not object to see a strike against 
 their neighbours. The result of these partial strikes between 1826 
 and 1836 was a tolerable equalization of wages in the different 
 mUls. 
 
 In the autumn of 1836 the operatives applied for a rise of wages. 
 The application was not made, according to their owii account, until 
 they had justified it to themselves by ascertaining the then prices of 
 yarns, cotton, and cotton wool, as compared with those of former 
 years. Also, three days' notice was given to the masters for delibera- 
 tion, for the application was made on the Tuesday, and the reduction 
 was to begin on the Friday. . The masters who, it is said, had hin- 
 dered the investigation by the men into the prices, told them they 
 thought the application was unfounded, since wages were lower in 
 Lancashire, and a rise of Glasgow wages would infallibly introduce 
 self-acting machinery. Nevertheless, they granted the advance asked 
 for of sixteen per cent. This advance does not seem to have ex- 
 tended itself to the country district round Glasgow, and shortly 
 afterwards, in October, 1836, the Glasgow unionists were, as they 
 say, compelled by the threats of their own masters into a strike against 
 
Glasgoio Cotton- Spinners. 399 
 
 a ■wealthy country manufacturer in the neighbourhood, who had 
 refused to give the advance. The strike lasted sixteen vireeks, clos- 
 ing in February, 1837; it was quite unsuccessful, and cost the Union 
 upwards of £3000 ; in fact, stripped it of all its reserve fund. 
 
 Meantime, trade w^s falling rapidly in Glasgow, and in April, 
 1837, it had fallen in some branches of the cotton trade to the extent, 
 it is represented, of from thirty or forty per cent.; and the masters 
 resolved — whether by formal agreement or not — to withdraw the 
 advance, of sixteen per cent, made the previous autumn. The noti- 
 fication of this to the men is thus described by one of the operatives. 
 On Wednesday, April 3rd, intimation was given by a few masters of 
 a reduction to take place on Monday, the 8th; the 4th was a fast- 
 day. On Friday, the 5th, a further number of the masters gave 
 similar intimation; on the same evening there was a meeting of the 
 Union, and a resolution passed that, as only a minority of masters 
 had as yet proposed the reduction, it should be resisted. On Satur- 
 day, the 6th, the remainder of the masters hearing of this meeting, 
 likewise gave notice of reduction, the reduction in all cases to begin 
 from the following Monday. An operative goes on to say that the 
 men applied to the masters to give them information as to the state 
 of the market, or to allow them time to procure it for themselves, but 
 that both requests were refused. " We then had no resource but 
 just to strike upon the moment, and all the men in and round Glas- 
 gow, at least the greater part of them, left their work on Monday. 
 .... If the whole of the masters had given us a week's notice, I 
 am bound, in the name of every cotton-spinner, to say there would 
 have been no strike." Within a fortnight or three weeks, the opera- 
 tives, finding their own Union to be without funds, and trade gene- 
 rally to be seriously depressed, offered to the Masters' Association to 
 return to work upon the reduced wages — i. e., upon the wages as 
 they were before the advance of sixteen per cent. The masters, 
 however, now declined to take the men back except upon their own 
 terms ; the men held out for thirteen weeks longer, and then sub- 
 mitted unconditionally^ 
 
 These terms have now to be considered : as compared with the 
 advanced wages of 1836, they were a reduction, according to an 
 operative, of 57 or 58 per cent., but according to an employer, 
 of 59 per cent, upon one-half of the operatives, and of 43 on the 
 other half; according to another employer, the reduction never 
 exceeded 50 per cent., and according to a third, who spoke only as to 
 his own manufactory, 25 per cent. These reductions were efiected in 
 the following way ; first of all, the advance of 16 per cent., made in the 
 autumn of 1836, was withdrawn from all spinners. Secondly, as to 
 those spinners who used shuttle-cops (about half of the aggregate 
 number), a further reduction of 13 per cent, was made. And lastly, 
 the new principle of payment was to be introduced, whereby a price 
 was fixed for work done on mules containing three hundred spindles, 
 and from wages done for all work on larger mules a deduction was to 
 be made at the rate of 1 per cent, for every twelve spindles above 
 
400 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 three hundred. By this thh-d means alone the aggregate deduction, 
 eifected upon the gross wages, would range from 1 to 58 per cent., 
 as the number of spindles rose from three hundred to one thousand; 
 practically however, the average deduction, according to a master's 
 representation, was about 30 per cent. 
 
 The wages, even thus reduced in these three ways, were nevertheless 
 stated by a Glasgow master of large experience to amount to from 
 20s. to 4Qs. per week, and therefore to be higher than the Lancashire 
 wages, which were said to range only from 20s. to 26*. or 27s. ; this 
 however is contradicted by an operative, who divides Glasgow 
 spinners into three classes ; the first make 35s. per week, but these 
 form not more than one-eighth of the operatives, and have to work . 
 more hardly than is right; the second class make 24s. or 25s. a week; 
 the third, lower sums, as low as 16s. or even 12s. a week; and the 
 average wages are 21s. or 22s. The amount of labour performed for 
 these wages is, exclusive of meals, twelve hours on five days in the 
 week and nine on Saturday, in all sixty-nine hours per week. 
 
 As to other terms of the employment of spinners, — notice is 
 not required for the master to dismiss, or for the man to leave; 
 each master makes a point of paying the same rate of wages to all 
 those in his factory, engaged in the same work, although they may 
 possess various degrees of skill ; formerly the master could, if the 
 work was faulty, inflict fines at his discretion, but this practice was 
 discontinued at the instance of the workmen, who; under the guid- 
 ance of the Union, requested that the punishment for bad work should 
 no longer be fines, but instant dismissal ; women are employed in 
 some mills exclusively, they cannot well earn more than 20s. 
 
 The piecers are obliged to work the same number of hours as the 
 spinners, because the machine cannot be kept going without them; 
 they are divided into three classes, according to their ages, and the 
 wages they earn; some, being from thirteen to fourteen years of 
 age, make 6s. 3rf. per week ; others, being between eleven and thir- 
 teen, 4s. 6d. ; others again, being between nine and twelve years old, 
 only 2s. 6d. 
 
 The loss of this strike to spinners and piecers, exclusively of the 
 expense of the funds by the Union, was estimated by a master at 
 £1,500 per week for sixteen weeks, in all £24,000. Mr. Sheriff' Alison 
 puts it at £29,000 odd; he also adds £40,000 more for losses entailed 
 on other operatives dependent on the spinners, such as card and 
 picking room hands, porters, colliers, &c., who were thrown out of 
 work; £33,000 for loss of capital to owners of cotton mills; £24,000 
 to importers of cotton, &c.; £34,000 to tradesmen dealing with opera- 
 tives, making together a total of £161,380. 
 
 During the sixteen weeks of the strike, Glasgow was in consider- 
 able commotion from so large a number of idle and dissatisfied opera- 
 tive spinners being throvpn loose on society ; this was increased by 
 a simultaneous strike of several other trades The Union placed 
 guards at the various cotton-mills, professedly, to ascertain whether 
 any of their own men on aliment went to work, and also how many 
 
Glasgow Cotton- Spinners. 401 
 
 hands were still employed, with a view to their owa proceedings 
 as to continuing or discontinuing the strike, but in great measure 
 doubtless, to hinder, by any means short of violence, new or old hands 
 taking employment. One employer took the precaution of prohibit- 
 ing all his hands then at work from leaving the premises during the 
 strike, upon any pretence whatever, even to see their families, and this 
 saved all trouble ; but elsewhere disputes and riots naturally ensued, 
 and at last the guards were removed by the Union, upon warning that 
 they would be taken into custody. Still their acts of intimidation did 
 not generally proceed to open serious assaults. Towards the end of the 
 strike however it was otherwise ; one man was murdered as he left 
 the premises, a woman had vitriol thrown upon her, and there were 
 two attempts at incendiarism. The authors of these crimes were un- 
 known ; but the sheriff arrested the Committee of the Union upon the 
 charge of having instigated them, and of having appointed a secret 
 coi^mittee, the object of which was assassination of' the masters. 
 Upon trial the verdict of the jury was "not proven." On the other 
 hand the men and especially their legal agent declared that, from the 
 first, the unionists had been misunderstood by the sheriff, and un- 
 fairly treated by him; that the Union, as a society, discountenanced 
 aU acts of violence, and disclaimed any connexion with the specific 
 acts charged to them; that the disturbances which h»d taken place 
 had been absurdly exaggerated, and were to be attributed not so 
 much to the interference of the unionists, as to the provocation of the 
 imported hands or "nobs " — a low class who wandered about the coun- 
 try living on the strikes of others, by getting employment, in spite of 
 their worthlessness as workmen, from the masters in emergency, or 
 by being bought out by the unionists, — lastly that no secret committee 
 had been appointed, much less charged with wicked and illegal acts. 
 
 In support of this defence they appealed to the break down of the 
 case at the trial, and also to the conduct of their ofiicers committed, 
 who had made no attempt at concealment of the truth, or at escape, 
 though they had ample warning of the intention to arrest them, and 
 had at the time solemnly averred their innocence to their confi- 
 dential legal adviser. 
 
 This statement of the men is in some respects borne out by the 
 masters. One adverse employer expresses his belief that the strike 
 was kept on foot not so much by intimidation, as by a sense of 
 honour amongst the operatives Jnot to desert a society to which they 
 had pledged themselves; that the unionists would have taken no 
 active steps toward outrage had the " nobs" been kept out of their 
 way; and that they were in general steady and good workmen, and a 
 better class than the " nobs;" and all the masters agree that directly 
 after the end of the strike, which closed so disastrously to the opera- 
 tives, irritation was at qnce laid aside. 
 
 Some light is also thrown upon the proceedings of the Union by 
 an official paper found upon their premises, and impounded by the 
 sheriff; its date was May, 1836, that is, a year before the strike, a 
 proof that it was never intended for the public eye. Its chief con- 
 
402 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 tents were a plan to distribute, by ballot, some funds for the purpose of 
 aiding emigration; it also set forth some instructions, which, though 
 rendered mysterious by the employment of a figure (No. 60) to 
 denote, it is presumed, some particular class of unionist, and thereby 
 lending some shadow of ground for the supposition that a secret 
 committee might have been established in the time of the strike, 
 sufficiently indicate the views of the Union respecting illegal acts of 
 violence. The instructions, so far as material, are as follows: — 
 
 " We propose that those called illegal men, nobs excepted, pre- 
 sently occupying wheels in Glasgow, should be offered a union on 
 the same terms as those proposed to the west country spinners, viz. 
 by paying £5 as entry money. That these illegal men pay 5s. 
 per fortnight, along with the regular instalment of the trade. They 
 shall grant a bill of security for value received. The £5 of entry 
 money, and the current instalment from the time that they occupied 
 wheels in the Glasgow body, must all be paid up before they jcan 
 be admitted as legal members. If any illegal men now occupying 
 wheels should be refractory, and not agree to those reasonable 
 terms of union, No. 60 shall receive £5 for each of them they 
 unshop; also £5 for every stranger whom they shall keep from occu- 
 pying wheels. As this body has always kept the laws of their 
 country, wisliing rather to protect their union by moral force and 
 public opinion, than to have recourse to measures of an opposite nature, 
 let it be distinctly understood and duly inculcated on every member, 
 that if No. 60 or idle men commit themselves in point of any viola- 
 tion of the laws of their country, they must | themselves alone be 
 responsible. No member of the trade shall have power to bring in 
 a petition, either directly or indirectly, to solicit money on behalf of 
 any such men, who may thus wantonly commit themselves in viola- 
 tion of our express laws." 
 
 One effect of this strike may be added. Immediately on its break- 
 ing out one master set to work to repair his self-acting mules; when 
 they were ready, he offered to take back his former hands to manage 
 them at the reduced price ; they declined, and nobs were then 
 employed. 
 
 J 
 THE BELFAST COTTON-SPINNERS. 
 
 [Evidence of a master spinner.] 
 
 In 1825 there seems to have been a severe strike: the Union was 
 extinguished, and has not revived. Labour in Belfast is, as the 
 master expressed it, perfectly free. The larger machines have only 
 just begun to be introduced. There had been a slight reduction 
 in wages in 1837, contemporaneously with the reduction in Glasgow, 
 and the men had submitted to it, and rejected the request made to 
 them by a Glasgow deputation to refuse it. 
 
 The hours of labour are the same in Belfast as in Glasgow and 
 Manchester, viz., sixty-nine actual working hours per week; but 
 
Belfast Calico Printers. — Irish Printers. 403 
 
 ■wages, whether or not owiijg to the absence of an operatives' union, 
 are considerably lower. A good workman's wages in Belfast are 
 estimated by the employer at 20s. or 22s., the maximum being 25«. 
 net; whereas a Glasgow employer puts Glasgow wages at from 20*. 
 to 40s. ; Manchester wages at 20s. to 2Qs. or 27s. 
 
 BELFAST CALICO PRINTERS. 
 
 [Witness: — ^A Master Calico Printer.] 
 
 This trade presents an instance of an employer finally closing his 
 establishment in consequence of a strike. The step, however, cannot 
 be wholly ascribed to the conduct of the unionists, for it appears 
 that this was the only establishment in Belfast where calico printing 
 had been attempted, so that, probably, before the strike, the experi- 
 ment had not proved very successful to the master. 
 
 The dispute arose about apprentices. Apprentices are taken at the 
 age of 15 or 16 years, and their term, therefore, does not expire till 
 they are 22 or 23 years old. In some cases they receive a small 
 weekly wage, increasing year by year ; but generally they are put at 
 once to piecework, at the same rate as journeymen, and after three or 
 four years, it is found that they can earn within 5s. of full wages, 
 which are reckoned at from 18s. to 25s. per week. The rules con- 
 cerning apprentices are as follows : — 1. That in each shop the 
 apprentices shall not outnumber the journeymen. 2. That each 
 apprentice shall 1)6 bound for seven years, and pay a iDremium of 
 £5 to the men in the shop ; and 3. As to work, that no apprentice 
 shall ground after a journeyman, except in blue, that is,' as explained 
 by the master, an apprentice shall not do simple work, which is 
 within his power, and which makes him remunerative to the master; 
 but shall be trained in working blue, which is the most difficult 
 colour, and which he cannot work with profit to his master, at all 
 events till nearly the end of his apprenticeship. 
 
 On the occasion which led to the strike, the master was desirous 
 to add to the number of his apprentices, and was content to keep 
 within the prescribed number, but he objected to the payment of £5, 
 partly because he feared he should not find boys whose parents could 
 aiFord to pay so large a sum, partly because he did not desire to see 
 any accession made in this manner to the funds of the Union. The 
 men, however, declared for a strike, if the master persisted. 
 Thereupon, the master retired from business. The men were thrown 
 completely out of employ, and the trade no longer exists in Belfast. 
 
 Of the Union, no information is given on other points, except 
 that it had a rule prohibiting the employment of women. 
 
 IRISH PRINTERS. 
 
 [Witnesses : — From Dublin — A Master Printer ; A Proprietor of two News- 
 papers ; Three Journeymen, two being secretaries, one to the General, the other 
 to the Local Union. From Belfast — A Proprietor of two Newspapers. From 
 Newry — A Newspaper Proprietor and Master Printer ; A Journeyman Printer.] 
 
 There appear to be three Typographical societies, one in England, 
 
 D D 
 
404 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 a second in Scotland, and a third in Ireland. They are not con- 
 nected with societies of any other trades. Each of the three has 
 independent laws of its own, and is subdivided into local societies or 
 tranches. The principal branch of the Irish society is at Dublin ; 
 it was first established in the year 1825 ; at that time there was 
 great distress in the printing trade, and those who were in work 
 found it necessary to contribute to the relief of their fellows ; but 
 this was not enough ; an appeal was accordingly made to the public, 
 and out of the money thus raised, weekly allowances from 2s. to 
 Is. 6d. were distributed amongst the distressed men, about fifty in 
 number, forming one-third of the whole body of printers then in 
 Dublin. 
 
 To prevent a recurrence of this state of things, the Society was 
 established. Its avowed object is the formation of a permanent 
 fund for affording relief to those who may be out of employment, and 
 from time to time, to settle the price of labour between the employers 
 and the employed, and other matters affecting the general welfare 
 of the printing community. It comprises about 260 of the 280 
 adult printers in Dublin. It is governed by a committee, assisted 
 by delegates. The committee consists of a secretary, four com- 
 positors, and three pressmen. The secretary is alone paid, he 
 receives £20 per annum. The condition of admission is, that an 
 apprentice, at the close of his term, be proposed by a member, who 
 produces his indentures ; his name is then circulated by means of the 
 Society round all the printing establishments in Dublin, to ascertain 
 if he is a person of good character and qualified to be admitted. 
 If the majority are in his favour, he pays £1 Is. fee, and becomes a 
 member. Members of the Scotch society are admitted upon payment 
 of 17*. 6d. Strangers must pay £2 2s. Members, on becoming 
 masters (and of these there are ten in Dublin) cease to belong to 
 the Society. The weekly subscription is 6d. The benefits are — 
 Aliment to the unemployed, at the rate of 7s. 6d. for the first six 
 weeks, and 5s. for the next seven ; 5s. to tramps, upon produc- 
 tion of their card ; assistance to emigrants, viz. : £4 to emigrants 
 to England ; £8 to America. Funeral allowance on the death of a 
 member, £3. 
 
 The amount of sums paid on these various accounts during the 
 year 1834, and the three following years was as follows : — 
 
 1834. 
 £ s. d. 
 226 17 1 
 
 1835. 
 £ s. d. 
 195 2 2 
 
 1836. 
 
 £ 5. d. 
 
 190 12 9 
 
 1837. 
 £ s. d. 
 118 13 7i 
 
 82 19 3 
 
 82 6 2 
 
 106 18 7 
 
 57 12 3 
 
 9 10 
 6 
 
 6 5 
 15 
 
 10 5 
 21 
 
 18 10 
 21 
 
 325 6 4 
 
 298 16 4 
 
 328 16 4 i208 15 10* 
 
 
 ... £1,2 
 
 61 Us. m 
 
 i. 
 
 To unemployed claimants 
 
 To Emigrants, about 120 in \ 
 
 the four years J 
 
 To Tramps 
 
 For burial 
 
 Total... 
 
Irish Printers. 405 
 
 The usual terms of employment of printers are, that a fortnight's 
 notice shall be given by the master who desires to dismiss, or by 
 the man who desires to leave. Payment is either by the week or 
 by the piece. In general, to be paid by the week, is considered a 
 privilege, and reserved only to the best and steadiest workmen, whom 
 the master desires to retain in his employment ; but an instance is 
 given, where those who were paid by the week neglected their work 
 in order to induce the master to pay by the piece, which they thought 
 to be the most profitable manner. The present rate of weekly wages 
 is, to printers engaged in the book-printing department, or on an 
 evening newspaper, 30*., and to those on a morning paper, which 
 requires nightwork, 32s. Qd., and in one case, 36s. The rate for 
 piecework is Srf. for every 1000 types. The wages in a provincial 
 town, as at Newry, are lower, the weekly rate being 25s. 
 
 These wages were drawn up in a book by the men, and submitted 
 to the masters. — The masters are agreed that on the whole they are 
 reasonable enough, not too high for a good workman. — They are 
 lower than the wages given in Dublin before the war, which for a 
 morning paper were once as high as £2 : but they are higher than 
 what they were a few years ago. As compared with London wages, 
 they are lower, the price for printing a London morning paper 
 being as much as £2 8s. per week; and this difference cannot be 
 wholly accounted for by the difference of price of food, which accor- 
 ding to a table made in 1825 is not more than 25 per cent, in favour 
 of Dublin. But as compared with Glasgow they are high. Glas- 
 gow wages are for the week 20s. to 25s., and for piecework only 
 5^d. instead of Sd. for every 1000 types. 
 
 Printers work ten hours during the day, formerly they used to 
 work eleven, but, so desirous were they for a change, that in one in- 
 stance they refused an ofier of an additional 2s. 6d. per week for an 
 additional eleventh hour daily. 
 
 There have been no general strikes in the Printing Trade, but 
 numerous ones against individual masters. The principal causes of 
 disputes between masters and their men on account of the Union are 
 three in number. They are 1st. The restriction of the number of 
 apprentices. 2nd. The imposition of a minimum or uniform rate of 
 wages. 3rd. The refusal of the unionists, or " body-men," as they 
 term themselves, to work with nou-unionists. 
 
 1st. As to apprentices. 
 
 Formerly there was no restriction as to the number of apprentices, 
 but since 1824, the number of apprentices has most disproportionately 
 multiplied. Of this fact there is no doubt ; both masters and men are 
 agreed that it is a most serious and growing evil. In 1835 it is said 
 that there were in Dublin 150 journeymen and 200 apprentices, and 
 a table exhibits that at present there are in Ireland 454 journeymen 
 and 547 apprentices ; in the large towns the proportion of apprentices 
 is smaller, in Dublin, for instance, they number only 160 to 28,0 
 journeymen, whereas in Drogheda there are but two journeymen to 
 twelve apprentices. This increasing anomaly is attributed to several 
 
 DD 2 
 
406 Parliamentary Jteports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 causes : 1. there is severe competition amongst master printers, and to 
 meet this a master uses the clieaper labour of apprentices instead of 
 journeymen ; a practice encouraged by Government who give out their 
 printing by contract always to the lowest bidder. An instance is given 
 of a post office contract, which was undertaken for a less sum than the 
 amount of wages payable for the same if journeymen printers only 
 were employed. 2. Parents living in the country are possessed with 
 the idea that printing is an avenue to great advancement, and so are 
 anxious to apprentice their sons to the trade. 3. Small printers 
 speculating on casual work, or adventurers without capital or patron- 
 age, start newspapers, for economy engage apprentices without limi- 
 tation, fail, and then turn their apprentices adrift. A list is given of 
 twenty -five newspapers which since 1824 have thus started and failed. 
 
 The effect of this excessive supply of apprentices was that a great 
 number of the journeymen who had been regularly educated were 
 unemployed, and their places filled up by unskilled apprentices. At 
 the present time one-half remain so unemployed. 
 
 The Union determined to remedy this evil, and in 1836 issued a 
 circular, that "After the 15th of September, 1836, no office should em- 
 ploy a greater number of apprentices than in the proportion of one to 
 two men permanently employed, two to four, three to six : and where 
 more than six were employed, the number of apprentices should be 
 increased to four, but on no account should that number be increased." 
 
 This restriction against apprentices at Dublin is much stricter than 
 that observed at Glasgow.* 
 
 The Irish masters, however, did not make much objection to the 
 rules, so far as the number of apprentices was directed to be in pro- 
 portion to the number of journeymen : they all felt that it was high 
 time, for the sake of the trade in general, that some restriction should 
 be observed, if not imposed by rule, though there was a difference of 
 opinion among them, as to what the proportion should be ; a Dublin 
 master thinking that one apprentice to three journeymen would be 
 sufficient, whilst a provincial master held it necessary that there 
 should be two apprentices to every three journeymen, probably 
 because, from the country, promotion removes many more men than 
 from the town. But what was reasonably obnoxious to the masters 
 
 * The rules agreed upon in the month of May, 1837, between the Committees 
 of masters and journeymen of Glasgow were as follows ; 
 
 1. Each book and jobbing office may have three apprentices at the outset if 
 the master be a regular bred printer : and for every journeyman aftei'wards em- 
 ployed, another apprentice. 
 
 It is desirable however that the number of apprentices at each department bear 
 as near a proportion to the journeymen at the same department as possible. 
 
 2. Every regularly bred printer in an office, in whatever department he be 
 employed, to count as a journeyman : and no person to count as an apprentice, 
 unless put to case or press. 
 
 3. When a journeyman with a view to permanent employment cannot be found 
 after inquiry of the Secretary of the Glasgow Typographical Society and a 
 reasonable delay, the master will resort to taking an apprentice. 
 
 4. When a journeyman has been dismissed from two offices for bad conduct 
 he shall be considered an irregular man, and not within the meaning of article 3. 
 
Irish Printers. 407 
 
 was the restriction at the end of the rule, whereby the maximum 
 number of apprentices in any one establishment was, irrespective of 
 the number of journeymen, fixed absolutely at four. This restriction, 
 moreover, was enforced most rigorously. Two cases are given of 
 masters entering upon large contracts at a low figure, upon the faith 
 of an express promise, on the part of their men, to allow an extra 
 apprentice, and the men then turning round and compelling the 
 master to dismiss the apprentice. The men however dispute the 
 existence of the promise. But one very strong case is put beyond a 
 doubt. A master having four apprentices, bought a printing machine : 
 none of his journeymen being able to work it, he took an apprentice, 
 and began to train him on the condition that he was not to learn 
 printers' work, i.e., to be a compositor, or a pressman. The men were 
 required by their Union to complain of the transgression of their rule : 
 the master offered either to dismiss the boy in favour of any journey- 
 man whom the men would provide, and who would be capable and 
 ready to work the machine at full wages (305.), or, in default, to refer 
 to arbitration the question whether the employment of a boy for the 
 machine was really a breach of the Union rule. The only answer 
 made by the men was, that they thought it a very hard case upon the 
 master, but that, if the boy was not removed, they were bound by 
 their union to strike. And the master, being unable to resist, had to 
 dismiss the boy. 
 
 It may be added that the terms on which apprentices are engaged 
 vary in different places, and with different masters. In some cases 
 a premium of £20 is required; in others again wages begin after the 
 first six months. In general the boy is supported by his parents for 
 the first two years; after that he receives wages, beginning at 5*. per 
 week, and rising up to lOs. in the last year of his term. 
 
 2. As to the dictation by the Union of the rate of wages, in 
 most trades this is the common cause of troubles. But with Irish 
 printers there is rarely a dispute about wages. This arises from the- 
 character of both parties, who cheerfully bear testimony in favour of 
 each other. The employers wish that the men should be in the first 
 instance well educated, and then that they should be comfortable, 
 and remain long in their service. The men are capable, industrious, 
 and attached to their employers. Some disputes, however, must of 
 coarse arise. There was a difiiculty when the change in the currency 
 took place, and some particular rules with respect to wages are justly 
 complained of by the masters. The compositors insist upon being- 
 paid so much a page, as if it were all solid matter, though, as a fact^ 
 a great part of the space may be filled by a woodcut; newspaper 
 printers also require to be paid afresh for matter which is daily 
 inserted with little or no change, and the types of which are left 
 standing. Some masters also are not satisfied that the wages are 
 uniform to the best and worst alike; but one master distinctly states 
 that he prefers a uniform scale, as it prevents all quarrels. And in 
 general the masters allow that the scale of wages is not unreasonable, 
 or too high for good workmen. 
 
408 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 3. As to the refusal of " body-men" to work with non-unionists, — 
 this is a rule nearly always found, where a union is strong enough 
 to enforce it, that is, where it comprises the great majority of the 
 trade. But it is a rule which, perhaps more than any other, works 
 oppressively. It forces men to join the body from fear, lest other- 
 wise they be left unemployed. It entirely strips the master of any 
 control in his own shop. It operates with peculiar severity upon 
 master newspaper printers, whose business is subject to emergencies, 
 requiring all hands, whether unionist or non-unionist, to help to 
 bring out the paper with punctuality. 
 
 The secretary of the printers' union makes the surprising state- 
 ment that he is not aware that such a rule exists in the Union; and per 
 haps the rule may not be committed to paper. But the secretary could 
 not be ignorant that as a practice it was most strenuously carried 
 out. Two instances may be given. Mr. Hardy, a witness before 
 the committee, had an ordinary book-printing establishment, where 
 only unionists were employed, and also a printing machine, quite 
 lately introduced into the trade. On this machine he printed the 
 Warder newspaper. The types were set up at the Warder office 
 by the printers there, who were non-unionists, and then carried over 
 to Mr. Hardy's office for the impressions to be struck off by the 
 machine. One day the boy carrying the types up the stairs of 
 Mr. Hardy's office slipped, and put his knee through one of the 
 formes. Mr. Hardy being under a penalty of £50 if there was any 
 delay in the printing, asked his own workmen, who were in his 
 employ by the week, to put the matter straight, as there was no 
 time to be lost. They answered him in a friendly way, " expressed 
 great sorrow, said if sitting up all night, or walking twenty miles to 
 any place would oblige him, they would do it, but they would not 
 touch those types." The other instance was a case where a pro- 
 prietor of a newspaper, being fearful one morning of not bringing out ' 
 his paper in time to catch the post to England, asked a man who 
 was not a member of the Union, but who was a regular bred printer, 
 and who at that time was in his employ as a reporter at 30«. a 
 week, just to take the compositors' stick, and set up some matter. 
 The men at once intimated that if this man did any work they 
 would give notice. 
 
 Instances could be multiplied of the vexatious interference of the 
 Union in other matters. One strike was against a master for dis- 
 missing a foreman, who was popular with them, but who could not 
 give his employer more than two or three days a week. In time of 
 strike the Unionists have over and over again bought up or frightened 
 away independent printers imported from Scotland or England, and 
 even apprentices from the masters to whom they were bound. The 
 eifects were most serious. One great master withdrew a large part 
 of his capital, and abstained from other enterprises he had in hand. 
 Proprietors of country newspapers, a class especially vulnerable to 
 interference, feared lest their trade should become too precarious to 
 be continued. Masters felt they were no longer masters in their 
 own establishments. One deisoses as follows : — 
 
Dublin Building Trades. 409 
 
 " I had resolved to put an end to this state of misery and slavery, or to look up 
 my establishment : accordingly! adopted rather a novel plan. I fitted up privately 
 in the rear of my premises, a printing ofSoe unknown to my men, and known only 
 to one or two confidential persons. I got a fount of types and put it into it. I 
 went to the country free schools, I brought in children from them, I put them into 
 his secret printing office, I slept them on the premises, I fed them upon the premises, 
 and privately at night took them out to give them exercise and air, and sent them 
 mto the country on a Sunday, to take gymnastic exercises in my garden at my own 
 cottage. I attended to the business in the printing ofBce, and attended to the 
 teaching of these boys myself: and by the time this strike came (the strike for 
 the reporter using the compositor's stick) I had had these little boys taught, some 
 not more than ten years of age, whom I perched upon stools, and thus set at de- 
 fiance the threats of these mighty combinators." 
 
 This deponent, who is a nevs^spaper proprietor at Belfast, managed 
 by great exertions to make himself independent of the Union, but 
 elsevsrhere its power remained undiminished. ' 
 
 The employers complain that the Union lays down the regulations 
 for the trade without consulting them. This is much to be regretted; 
 it does not however seem to be always the case ; and the masters are 
 in a measure themselves to blame for refusing to recognise the exist- 
 ence of the Union. In 1833, it appears that there was a circular 
 sent round to the newspaper jsroprietors for the purpose of estab- 
 lishing some standard by agreement, and only one out of the many 
 persons to whom the application was made condescended to answer. 
 
 With regard to strikes, one rule of the Union is that, should any 
 member, after being cautioned on the subject, apply at any office con- 
 sidered unfair, or in which a dispute may exist, the Secretary of the 
 Society, where it may take place, shall immediately communicate the 
 circumstance to the Secretary of the Union, with the name of the 
 individual so offending, that he may be dealt with accordingly. It 
 may be added that acts of violence during strike, partly from the 
 strength of the Union which can eifectually crush any competition 
 from non-unionists or imported hands, partly from the peaceable 
 character of printers as a class, are of rare occurrence ; still one 
 master deposes that for some time he had to carry arms. 
 
 DUBLIN BUILDING TEADES. 
 
 [Witnesses: — Four Master Builders; two Timber Merchants; one Master 
 Painter, late a journeyman ; one Brewer, employer of Builders ; one Journeyman 
 Bricklayer (Secretary to the Friendly Society of Operative Bricklayers) ; one 
 Journeyman Plasterer (Secretary to the Plasterers' Society) ; one Journeyman 
 Painter (Member of the Painters' Society) ; two Journeymen Sawyers (members 
 of the Sawyers' Society) ; two Journeymen Carpenters (one belonging to the Gen- 
 eral Society of Carpenters, the other, the Secretary of the Regular Body of Car- 
 penters); one Foreman Carpenter (member of the Regular Body of Carpenters). 
 
 Master Buildees employ bricklayers, masons, sawyers, carpenters, 
 plasterers, and painters. Each of these trades has a separate Society 
 of its own, of which some notice will be found hereafter, but for 
 some purposes they may be all treated together, since the rules of all 
 are in the main similar, and affect the same employers ; and a vio- 
 lation of the rules of any one of the societies is avenged by the 
 members of the others. 
 
410 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 Master builders in Dublin may be divided (as indeed may masters 
 in almost every trade and in every place) into two classes. The one 
 are called regular employers, tbat is, those who employ unionist 
 operatives (the bulk of whom have been duly apprenticed), conform 
 to the usual rules of the trade, and pay the required standard wages. 
 The others, the irregular employers, who do not employ unionists, 
 do not conform to the rules, and who pay wages which are never 
 uniform, and almost always are below the standard wage. The 
 latter class aims at cheap production, and the means they use are 
 either to import the material manufactured from a foreign cheaper 
 labour market, or to employ labourers on the spot at a reduced wage. 
 Accordingly we find that masters of this class connected with the Dub- 
 lin building trade import timber ready sawn from America, or have 
 their Irish timber sawin by country labourers in the woods, where 
 it has been felled ; that they do not pay the same wages as other 
 masters, even when these have been made the subject of a special agree- 
 ment between the masters as a body on the one hand, and the Union 
 representing the operatives on the other ; and that, when these 
 reduced wages are refused by unionists, they resort to the employ- 
 ment of "colts," that is, journeymen who have not been regularly 
 apprenticed, of apprentices multiplied ad libitum, of country hands 
 brought up to town for the purjiose, and of foreign hands imported 
 from Scotland. Nor is evidence wanting that the worst specimens 
 of their class are in the habit, for the sole purpose of lowering wages, 
 of concentrating an excessive number of country labourers upon a 
 distant point, or that payment is made frequently unpuuctually, 
 sometimes in truck, and sometimes even in bad copper money. But 
 one charge of this last description, brought against a respectable 
 master, was completely rebutted. It need not be said that labourers 
 of this description, apprentices, ' colts,' or country hands im- 
 perfectly trained, Scotchmen who have emigrated because their 
 skill does not insure them a livelihood at home, are but poor work- 
 men who are merely fitted for rough work, or do other work only 
 in an inferior way. 
 
 Irregular masters find the bulk of their business in the execution of 
 large contracts, and their best customers in public boards, above all in 
 Government, which invariably takes the lowest tender. In conse- 
 quence, we are not surprised to learn that at the public works the 
 lowest wage is given, and the intervention of middle-men practised, 
 or to hear of " the coarse worlv for the Bank of Ireland," or of an 
 inferior description of work for the Board of Works, not held much 
 in account by labourers, or of barrack furniture imported from Eng- 
 land, which proves to be mere rubbish. These irregular masters, 
 be it said, although before the committee they are represented by 
 three out of the four master witnesses, by no means constitute the 
 majority of masters, or monopolize the bulk of the building business in 
 Dublin. At present, some having failed or retired, there are remaining^ 
 but three firms of this description; and it is in evidence that the regular 
 masters have had not only the exclusive enjoyment of the small jobs, 
 
Dublin Building Trades. 411 
 
 such as shop-fronts, &c., but at least two-thirds of the public work 
 done for many years. 
 
 The accounts of the trade unions curiously differ, as they proceed 
 from the one class of employers or the oilier. 
 
 Mr. Egan, the only one, out of the four master builders examined 
 by the Committee, who is a regular employer, is in extensive busi- 
 ness, and speaks from an experience of forty years. He deposes as 
 follows : — 
 
 " I have never employed any workmen but the tody-men (i. e. unionists) in 
 
 the course of my life I pay 4s. 8d. (the standard wages) to all alike, 
 
 whether superior or inferior ; I endeavour to select the best workmen, and I think 
 the wages fair between master and man. ... I have never had any difference 
 with my men, except on one occasion before 1826, when I reluctantly yielded to a 
 demand of the carpenters for Qd. a day extra for working beyond the town circle.* 
 .... They have never interfered with me. ... I employ the body-men 
 
 because I think them the best workmen, and the most respectable class 
 
 I could not have better men, or more respectable I have always 
 
 treated them with respect, and they have treated me in return with respect and 
 gratitude." 
 
 This evidently is a more favourable representation of the unions 
 than would be furnished by masters in general, to whom the union 
 regulations are in many respects vexatious; for we find that in 1838, 
 they drew up an elaborate protest against the rules of the carpenters, 
 which in principle are the same as the rules of the other unions.f 
 But the tone of the document itself, and of the discussion which 
 ensued, is one of respect from the masters towards the union ; and if 
 any further evidence were required to prove the friendly relations 
 existing between the two bodies, it would be furnished by the fact 
 that not one of the regular employers came forward to the committee 
 to give evidence against the rules or proceedings of the unions. 
 
 On the other hand, the irregular masters bring the following 
 charges against the Union. 1st. That their rules are impracticable, 
 and produce an exorljitant rate of wages. 2nd. That their rules are 
 enforced by constant strikes, and also by organized violence of the 
 most terrific character. 3rdly. That the combinations so carried on 
 are the cause of the depression of the whole building trade. 
 
 Rules. 
 
 As to the first charge, the rules complained of as maintaining 
 excessive wages are those which prohibit piecework, which require 
 a daily wage at once uniform and exorbitant, and which place 
 restrictions as to the number of apprentices. Each of these rules 
 may be considered separately. 
 
 The rule against piecework. — Operatives connected with the 
 building trade (except sawyers) are paid by the day ; but the 
 amount of work to be done in a day is not, as by one master is 
 represented, limited by any rule. Piecework, naturally the most 
 
 * This charge is now no longer customary. 
 
 t The protest, and discussion and resolutions consequent thereon, will be found 
 at length in the separate account of the carpenters. 
 
412 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 conveuient system for both employer and operative, is prohibited to 
 be done for any master, thovigh it is permitted to operatives who job 
 for private individuals. The reason for this prohibition is that 
 piecevs^ork oifers to those masters who are unscrupulous more 
 opportunities than day-work for the reduction of wages. And it is 
 clear that with some masters reduction of wages, as well as other 
 advantages, is the motive of their objection to day-work, for a case 
 is given in evidence of a timber-merchant who was most loud in his 
 denunciations of day-work amongst the sawyers, and who, after a 
 scale of prices by the jDiece had been settled upon between the 
 masters in a body on one side, and the Union on the other, not only 
 did not adhere to this scale, but in particular branches of work, 
 where he thought to save by it, substituted a payment of wages by 
 the day. 
 
 Still it is clear that this prohibition of piecework is felt by the 
 whole body of master builders to be a real inconvenience, and in 
 their resolutions of 1838 they decline in future to be bound by it. 
 
 Rule as to a uniform Wage. — What the unions enforce is not in 
 terms a uniform, but a minimum wage; but this becomes uniform, 
 because the masters (except in very I'are cases) treat it as a maximum. 
 It is a rule of which masters generally, not irregular masters only, 
 complain, and in the early part of the year 1838, it was made the 
 subject of a special paper, dravm up by the regular masters, and ad- 
 dressed to the regular body of carpenters. The objections taken to 
 it were that the skill of operatives varies, and that the Union, while 
 requiring a uniform rate, omits upon the admission of members to 
 the body to apply any test of their efficiency. And the masters pro- 
 posed to substitute for it a classification of wages according to the 
 abilities of the workman. This classification was to be established in 
 the following manner: — A scale of prices for the principal portions 
 of carpenters' work to be drawn up, the prices to correspond to the 
 highest daily wages paid in the city, and to be published in the form 
 of a pamphlet authorized by the names of deputies from both em- 
 ployers and operatives; the right to belong to either party, — to an 
 operative who might think his wages too low, or to a master that 
 they were too high, — to demand that work for a few days be paid 
 for by the piece according to this scale, the result so ascertained by the 
 master to determine the amount of daily wages to be paid in future. 
 To this proposal the regular carpenters replied in an elaborate paper. 
 They upheld the rule requiring the uniform wage on the grounds 
 that, as a fact, there existed amongst workmen a general equality of 
 productive capabilities ; that a sufficient stimulus to self-improvement 
 was, even under a uniform wage system, provided to the workman by 
 prospect of greater permanency of employment; that the current 
 wages had been the medium wage for the last forty years, and were 
 rather below than above the average deserts, being struck at the sum 
 which every workman was worth, except one disabled by some par- 
 ticular cause ; and that this exceptional case was provided for by the 
 26th rule, which allowed a lower wage to a workman thrice dismissed 
 
Dublin Building Trades. 413 
 
 for incompetency. On the other hand, they objected to the classifi- 
 cation proposed by the masters, on the ground that the examination, 
 by which it was to be determined, was impracticable, — it would be a 
 partial examination, extending over onJy one or more of the very 
 numerous branches of carpentry, or, if entire, the skill of the work- 
 man would be liable to be misestimated by the whimsical judgment 
 of the particular employer, or to be wilfully depreciated by the un- 
 scrupulous master who desired only to reduce wages. The result of 
 this discussion was that the masters reluctantly agreed to continue 
 the system of uniform payment (except, as before, in cases of marked 
 inefficiency), but passed a resolution that no operative should be 
 entitled to fuU journeyman's wages unless he had served a regular 
 apprenticeship, and that a proper qualification and test should be 
 established for admission into the Union. It does not appear whether 
 this resolution was confirmed or rejected by the Union. 
 
 The amount of the uniform wage was also at the same time dis- 
 cussed. The operatives maintained, as has been already stated, that 
 the then wage of 4s. Sd. per diem was a fair wage. The masters, 
 by their final resolutions, determined that, in consequence of the 
 competition, the wages must be reduced to As. Ad. per diem. This 
 resolution, not passed, be it noted, till 1838, may throw some light upon 
 the averment of the irregular employers, that for many years the 
 wages required by the Union were " enormous." 
 
 The Rules against Apprentices. — In the building trade, ap- 
 prentices can be taken either indentured or not indentured, and 
 either by masters or men. In general they receive no remunera- 
 tion for the first two or three years, and afterwards some slight 
 wages, 7s. or 8s. a week as may be agreed upon, or per tarifi". 
 Apprenticeship having for its sole object the recruital of the 
 ranks of the journeymen thinned by the course of time, and being 
 based on tlie principle of gratuitous instruction on the one side, 
 and gratuitous or slightly paid labour on the other, a clear per- 
 version exists, where apprentices are multiplied simply for the pur- 
 pose of cheapening labour. This perversion leads to serious conse- 
 quences; not only is no justice done to the apprentice, who, instead 
 of learning his trade systematically, has to work upon that which 
 will most immediately pay his master; but the market is over-sup- 
 plied with unskilled labour, wages sink, the work is slopped, and 
 trade is discredited. In the Dublin building trade, this perversion 
 cannot be charged to the masters as a class; it is occasionally prac- 
 tised by low contractors, but, as a general rule, regular employers 
 find apprentices a trouble, take only a few of them, and those by in- 
 denture; and disputes rarely occur concerning apprentices taken by 
 masters. In the plastering trade indeed not one has happened within 
 recollection; and the masters are not even nominally restricted as to 
 the number of their own apprentices. But with operatives, who are 
 accustomed to undertake jobbing work on a small scale, it is other- 
 wise; being without capital, they cannot afibrd to pay their labour 
 well, and so they are apt to take to themselves, without stint and 
 
414 Parliametitary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 without indenture, apprentices who are termed club apprentices, to 
 employ them on jobs so long as their business lasts, and then to turn 
 them adrift to push their own way for themselves, either to seek a 
 new master, or to work as unapprenticed journeymen. This evil is 
 very common in Dublin; one witness deposes that many appren- 
 tices do not know who their master is, another that four-fifths of the 
 carpenters are apprentices, a proportion far greater than is required 
 to keep up the supply of journeymen. 
 
 The various Unions endeavour to provide remedies in the shape of 
 restrictive rules, which will be specified hereafter, as each trade 
 receives separate mention. But considered generally, some of their 
 rules seem altogether right, as the rule limiting each sawyer to one 
 apprentice, based on the principle that no man should have more 
 apprentices than he can instruct and keep in employment; others 
 not perhaps wrong in principle, but pushed to excess, as the rule 
 that denies admission to the Union to non-apprenticed workmen, 
 except on payment of the highly penal sum of six or seven pounds. 
 Other rules again, though having a good object, are altogether to be 
 condemned, such as absolute restrictions upon the numbers of ap- 
 prentices, or prohibitions to take an apprentice, except a son or near 
 relation, or prohibition to members, except of a certain standing 
 in the community, to take apprentices at all. And in general the 
 restrictions are of a most vexatiously minute character. 
 
 These rules, as has been said, are directed not so much against the 
 masters, but against the men, the members of their own Union; but 
 they afiect the masters, inasmuch as the Union legalizes a strike 
 against a master, who, though he may have no apprentices of his 
 own, employs any operative who has more than the recognised 
 number of apprentices. But against regular masters, who are kind 
 to their men, it appears that these rules are very rarely, if ever 
 enforced; it is only when the master is an irregular or an unpopular 
 employer, that the unionists strike, as soon as a journeyman with too 
 many apprentices is brought into the yard. Actual abuse of these 
 rules, and the constant possibility of their arbitrary enforcement, 
 induced the regular masters, in the year 1838, to make a determined 
 protest against them. These masters however, fully recognised the 
 necessity of some restrictions as to apprentices, and therefore they 
 proposed that the number of apprentices should be stiU limited, though 
 not, as before, absolutely, but in proportion to the number of journey- 
 men in the same yard; and further, that a full term of seven years' 
 servitude should be required, to found a title to the standard wage of 
 a journeyman. 
 
 Strikes and Violence. 
 
 This forms the second charge against the Union. It is not 
 complained of by the regular employers, who complied with the 
 rules prohibiting piecework and requiring the uniform wage, and 
 received indulgence as to apprentices, wherever (which was seldom 
 the case) that indulgence was required. But against the irregular 
 employers, who were known to attempt reductions of wages, the 
 
Dublin Building Trades. 415 
 
 minor rules were with vexatious rigour enforced by constant strikes, 
 and the more important rules by intimidation and violence. This 
 is an undoubted fact, admitted even by Mr. Egan, who acknowledges 
 that, if he desired to resist the Union, he would, nevertheless, not 
 dare to do so. And the violence is not of the ordinary kind, not 
 casual, temporary, or confined to outrages upon fellow workmen, but 
 organized, public, murderous to both master and man, and continuing 
 up to the present time. To give an idea to English readers of the 
 enormity of these acts, the following may be selected out of a long 
 list, authenticated by the personal knowledge, if not the personal 
 suffering of the witnesses : — 
 
 In 1820, a Mr. Carolin, a master builder, employed in his yard 
 two men at higher than the standard wages, who happened to be 
 non-unionists, and also refused to grant the usual extra wage for work 
 done in the country. For the breach of these two rules, a mob of 
 50 to 100 workmen assaulted his house, beat him and his two sons 
 severely, and in the struggle he shot a man, was tried, and the jury 
 found a verdict of Justifiable Homicide. In 1827, one of the sons 
 had vitriol thrown upon him, and was severely beaten in the streets 
 of Dublin. 
 
 In 1826, Mr. Fagan, one of the deponents before the Committee, 
 employed in his timber yard, a man by the name of Hanlon, a rough 
 country sawyer; the wages paid to him and his apprentice were 
 not the usual weekly wages of 52s., but wages by the piece, amount- 
 ing only to 30«. or 35s. This was an offence against the Union 
 laws, and Mr. Fagan, fearing violence, allowed him to go home 
 one hour earlier than the other workmen. Preconcerted measures 
 were adopted for his murder : lots were drawn to decide those 
 who should undertake it, any one upon whom the lot fell being 
 bound to go himself, or to provide a jjaid substitute, and many men, 
 otherwise of excellent character, were drawn in the lot; the gang 
 were three or four days out without seeing Hanlon, but one day he 
 was present at a sawyer's funeral; the leader of the gang brought 
 thirty-two of the men into a public-house, gave them a glass of 
 spirits each, and then they fell upon him in the public street, and 
 beat him dreadfully with their " opening sticks," some even going 
 back and killing him, as he lay already on the point of death. Many 
 men were tried for this murder, and defended at the expense of 
 the Union, and several were hanged for it. 
 
 In 1836, a timber merchant of the name of Curry, also one of the 
 witnesses before the Committee, imported from America a quantity 
 of boards already sawn to the thickness of one inch. A message 
 was sent to him through his clerk, from one of the sawyers in his 
 yard, that he had better not have imported these deals, and a printed 
 notice was served afterwards on each of the retail-yard keepers in 
 the city, that if those planks were purchased by them, the sawyers 
 would not cut any timber which those retail sellers might purchase 
 from Mr. Curry's establishment. Nevertheless, a Mr. Mason, a 
 manufacturer, trusting to the fact that he had never yet had a quarrel 
 
416 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 with the sawyers, agreed to buy some. A few days afterwards 
 he was beaten brutally in a public street and injured for life. Mr. 
 Curry then entered into a compromise with an agent of the sawyers, 
 not to sell the planks in Dublin; and accordingly they were at a 
 great loss shipped off to Liverpool, and there sold by auction; and 
 . Mr. Curry did not venture to import any more of the same sort. 
 
 Mr. Murray, another of the witnesses, deposes that since the year 
 1826 the following outrages have been perpetrated on him and his 
 men: — his bricklayers were beaten for not asking extra country- 
 wages; his country sawyers, whilst working in the daytime in his 
 yard, were thrice assaulted and beaten by a gang of unionists; his 
 stone-cutter foreman was shot; he himself was beaten at Clonmel, 
 and harassed by threatening letters, — and finally his house and 
 establishment were in the early part of 1838, burnt down, evidently 
 by an incendiary. 
 
 This catalogue of crimes might be indefinitely extended. The 
 operatives examined cannot deny the commission of the acts them- 
 selves ; they simply dispute some of the circumstances connected 
 therewith, attribute them to private malice or accidental collision, 
 and appealing to the frequent investigations by the police of the 
 Union papers, strenuously deny that they were organized by the 
 Union. But the fact that so many of these crimes, although com- 
 mitted by gangs and in open day, went unpunished, is a. sure proof 
 that the Union connived at them, if it did not absolutely organize 
 them. Nor, in two instances, is direct evidence wanting. A wit- 
 ness, now a master painter, but once a member of the Union, 
 deposes that, in 1820, the President of the Society himself proposed 
 that " colts " should be beaten, and that the Society should pay men 
 to do it ; that members out of employ were drawn for the business 
 by lot, and were led on by a man called " The General," who 
 received 30s. a week and his clothes ; that to meet these expenses, 
 a levy of Zs. Sd. per week was imposed upon members of the Society, 
 and further money borrowed, £20 from the carpenters and £10 from 
 the paperstainers ; that violence was a matter of everyday occur- 
 rence, and that, amongst others, the witness himself was assaulted 
 by " the General " and his gang, and compelled to promise to pay 
 the levy. Again, the same witness deposes that, in 1826, when 
 there was a general stril^e throughout all the trades to establish the 
 same wages in the English as in the former Irish currency, it was 
 proposed in the committee that two men who had not struck should 
 be " slated," i.e. beaten. The witness was himself a member of the 
 committee, and threatened to inform if the proposition was pro- 
 ceeded with. It was thereupon withdrawn and the meeting broke 
 up ; but immediately aftewards some of the more violent committee- 
 men met secretly together, and the result was that the next morning 
 the two men were severely beaten, and the Society, as a body, so 
 far from condemning the outrage, did not disguise their satisfaction. 
 Neverthless these crimes naturally produced a strong reaction within 
 the Unions themselves. This appears to have been especially the case 
 
Dublin Building Trades. 417 
 
 after the revelations made in the trial of the murderers of Hanlon, 
 in the year 1826, and the public abhorrence thereby created. The 
 respectable operatives organized themselves into a pacific party, and 
 opposed acts of violence ; and in. the painters' trade they went to 
 the length of separating themselves altogether from the Union, and 
 forming an independent body. Acts of violence, in consequence, 
 became more rare, and it seems pretty clear that they have been, on 
 the whole, steadily on the decrease since the repeal of the Combina- 
 tion Laws, although this is denied by two masters, who themselves 
 have been the principal sufierers from these outrages. 
 
 Depression of the Trade. 
 
 The third charge brought against the Union is that, by keeping 
 up exorbitant wages through intimidation, it has produced in the 
 building trade that depression which on all sides is admitted to 
 exist. This charge, it is to be observed, proceeds not from the 
 bulk of the master builders, but only from that section which is 
 constituted by the irregular employers. As to these, no doubt it is 
 in a measure true. The Union is bent upon driving every employer 
 of this class out of the market, whether by fair means or foul ; it 
 compels him to have his operatives all unionists or aU non- 
 unionists ; if he has all unionists, he cannot, without an immediate 
 strike in his yard, procure labour any cheaper than his neighbours, 
 whom he desires to undersell ; if, on the other hand (as is more 
 usual), he breaks into open war with the Union, he has to fall back 
 upon other workmen, who will take indeed low wages, but who can 
 offer only inferior skill ; and in either case he is personally exposed 
 to the most formidable violence. It would be surprising, if, under 
 these conditions his trade could thrive. However, the troubles 
 even of irregular employers must in some measure be ascribed to 
 their habit of making the lowest possible tenders for large contracts, 
 and thus involving themselves in the most hazardous speculations. 
 
 But, as to the stagnation of the building trade generally, it seems 
 more fair to attribute this to causes over which the operatives have 
 no control. The foremost of these is the Union. "Before that 
 event," it is stated in a paper prepared by the carpenters in the 
 year 1828, " the public works alone carried on in Dublin by the 
 Government Boards gave employment to above 2000 carpenters ; 
 at the same time there were upwards of 2,300 employed in the 
 buildings in public squares, &c., without including the number em- 
 ployed in breweries, distilleries, and sugar bakeries, and other large 
 establishments flourishing in Dublin." Another cause, verified by 
 the testimony not only of operatives, but of a master builder of the 
 irregular class, who has given up his business as a failing concern, 
 is that Dublin has been overbuilt with houses, erected by builders 
 speculating on purchasers, to be attracted by what was then thought 
 a likely prospect — a domestic Parliament. A third cause is compe- 
 tition. This same master says : — " I attribute the losses of the 
 trade more to employers than to the workmen ; one is cutting 
 
418 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 against another, so that no man ig properly paid." And he declares 
 that, as things are now, he would leave Dublin, even if there was 
 no combination. Lastly, the acknowledged superabundance of ap- 
 prentices and cheap labour, though it would not lower the profits 
 of masters, sufficiently accounts for the depressed state of the 
 operatives. 
 
 DUBLIN CAEPENTEKS. 
 
 [Witnesses : — A Journeyman, member of the General Society of Carpenters ; a 
 Journeyman, Secretary to the Regular Body of Carpenters ; a Foreman, member 
 of the Regular Body of Carpenters.] 
 
 Carpenters in Dublin may be divided into three classes. 1. Those 
 who are members of no Union. 2. Members of the General Society 
 of Carpenters, and, 3. Members of the Regular Body of Carpenters. 
 — The first are decidedly the lowest class : they consist of operatives, 
 who have never been apprenticed, and are brought up from the 
 country, or elsewhere, and put to the coarsest work for very low 
 wages : they pass by the opprobrious title of ' colts.' The General 
 Society of Carpenters, which numbers about 400 members, is one 
 apparently of recent establishment, professing " to assist men when 
 they are in distress, to enable men, when trade is bad in one town, to 
 pass to the next, and to oppose masters when they would offer to 
 reduce wages, or do any other act of tyranny." It accomplishes this 
 latter object in the usual manner, by providing aliment to those who 
 strike, rather than submit to reduction : the aliment being at the rate 
 of half of the previous wages. 
 
 These strikes are said to have been frequently successful. It may 
 be inferred, though it is not stated, that this Society does nominally 
 require some uniform, or minimum wage : but either this requisition 
 is not enforced, or the minimum must be below the standard wage 
 established by the Regular Body of Carpenters, for this latter bodj"- 
 refuses to recognise the Society, treats the members of it as mere 
 "colts," and declines to work with them. And in January, 1838, 
 there was a battle between the members of the two Societies in the 
 open streets, and some men were killed. 
 
 The Regular Body of Carpenters, which does not contain more 
 than 250 members, is the ancient Society, having for its objects " to 
 apprentice the orphans, to assist the widows, bury the dead, assist 
 distressed members, and by a regular combination to support a fair 
 rate of wages." It also has built an asylum for its aged and infirm 
 members, at the expense of nearly £1000, and has in contemplation 
 thebuildingof a practical school. It is governed by a Committee of 
 six, appointed by ballot, who hold office for three months, and during 
 that term meet twice a week ; the secretary receives a salary of 
 £25 per annum. 
 
 What are the rules of this Society, and what are the objections 
 brought against them, will best appear from some resolutions passed 
 at a meeting of the regular master builders of Dublin, held in 
 February, 1838, for the purpose of considering the regulations of 
 
Dublin Carpenters. 419 
 
 operatives in the various building departments. The resolutions 
 were prefaced by a declaration that the meeting disclaimed any in- 
 tention of acting in any degree hostilely to the operatives, and was 
 desirous of promoting a friendly understanding with them., and 
 advancing the interests of both employers and employed : but that 
 the printed rules of the different communities, produced at the meet- 
 ing, appeared to the masters in various particulars unjust, illegal, 
 arbitrary, and injurious to trade in general. The resolutions them- 
 selves purported to specify those which were most objectionable, 
 and ran as follows : — 
 
 "'Rule 1. That every person from the country, not having worked 
 more than one month in the city of Dublin, or within ten miles 
 thereof, being desirous of becoming a member of this community, 
 shall be admitted, on paying the sum of seven guineas, or ten guineas 
 to be the admission of colts, each person paying half the sum at first 
 payment.'- — Resolved, that this rule is injurious not only to the ope- 
 rative, and to the employer, but to the public at large, inasmuch as no 
 sufficient qualification is required by the body to ascertain the capa- 
 bilities of the applicant; he is therefore forced on the employer at 
 the full rate of wages, although he may be a very inferior workman ; 
 besides, all persons have a legal and just right to procure employ- 
 ment in the best possible way, and such taxation almost prohibits 
 their doing so. — ' Rule 2. That every person who has served seven 
 years in a lawfuj manner to the house-carpenter business in the city 
 of Dublin, and has not worked more than one month after said ser- 
 vitude before his application to join this community, shall be admit- 
 ted on paying the sum of 13«.; and if known to work in an unlaw- 
 ful shop, or under the regular wages, shall pay the same as a colt, if 
 not granted liberty to work in such shop.' That we consider the- 
 concluding part of this rule as oppressive, as circumstances might 
 occur, from the necessity of the individual, which would oblige him-, 
 to seek employment wherever he could obtain it. — ' Rule 5. That no 
 regular employer's boy be allowed to finish his time amongst the 
 men, should his master cease being an employer, or decline business,., 
 unless he be transferred to another employer.' That we consider this 
 rule as oppressive, inasmuch as it precludes the master from deriving 
 
 that benefit to which he is justly entitled from his apprentice. 
 
 'Rule 6. That no carpenter be allowed to take or hold more than 
 three apprentices at any time, that is, two indented and one trans- ■ 
 ferred, or two transferred and one indented; the transferred boy or- 
 boys must be in all cases those who were originally bound to regu-^ 
 lar employers or regular operatives : no firm to take advantage of" 
 this rule, as there are no more apprentices allowed to any firm tham 
 there are to any single or individual employer.' That we consider- 
 this rule to be an arbitrary restriction, inasmuch as it interferes 
 with legal rights and freedom. — 'Rule 7. That any member of this 
 community becoming an employer, and taking an apprentice, if he 
 continues an employer for half the boy's time, and after becomes a 
 •working man, that boy shall be transferred to a regular employer,' 
 
 E £ 
 
420 Parliamentary Report on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 That this rule we consider unjust to the -working man; should he be 
 unsuccessful in business, he has a strong claim on his former fellow- 
 workmen, and should be allowed to retain the advantage to be 
 derived from the labour of his apprentice. — 'Rule 11. That any 
 regular boy, while serving his apprenticeship, transgressing so far 
 as to go into any irregular employment, and remaining there after 
 getting a proper intimation of the effect of so doing, shall forfeit all 
 claim on trade, and be received as a colt.' That this rule is also 
 unjust and oppressive, as circumstances of necessity may oblige the 
 individual to avail himself of such employment as he can obtain. — 
 'Rule 13. That any member being in the country for the space 
 of three years, shall pay his arrears on coming to town ; also any 
 member being five years a stranger from community, and working 
 within the limits, when rejoining trade, shall in every case be sub- 
 ject to the penalty of ten guineas ; such members to be treated in 
 every respect as a country member as regards taking apprentices.' 
 That this rule infringes on the rights of the operative, inasmuch as 
 he that was once qualified amongst his fellows should be at liberty 
 to act as his circumstances or necessities may require. — 'Rule 14.. 
 That any member of this community giving information to any 
 person not a member, or considered as such, of any business taking 
 place, or rules adopted at any summoned meeting or otherwise of 
 community, be fined one guinea and a crown for every such offence.' 
 That if the first part of this rule refer to answering a proper and 
 lawful question put by his employer, we consider it unjust. — 'Rule 
 15. That all members of this community do take three-fourths of an 
 hour to breakfast, and one hour to dinner, from the 1st day of March 
 until the 14th day of October, when the dinner hour shall cease 
 until the 1st day of March following; one hour to be taken to break- 
 fast, from the 14th of October until the 1st of the ensuing March; 
 candle light to commence on the 1st day of November, and continue 
 until the 1st day of the ensuing February; no shop to make private 
 regulations contrary to these rules, under a fine of one guinea to 
 •each member of such shop.' That the regular working day consists 
 of lOJ hours, and that such time should be allowed to all employers 
 during the year by their operatives. — 'Rule 16. Let it be particularly 
 understood by all who are concerned in these rules, that the quarter 
 of an hour usually worked after six in the evening, is given merely 
 as a remuneration for any time, such as a few minutes that any man 
 might be late in the morning or at meal-times.' That the construc- 
 tion of this note would or might extend too far, and sanction late 
 attendance; the custom originated from being allowed an additional 
 quarter of an hour at breakfast more than formerly was enjoyed by 
 the operatives. — 'Rule 17. That no member shall give a detailed 
 return of any work, except for jobbing, which may be detailed, 
 under a fine of 10*. 6c?. for each violation.' That we consider this 
 not only dishonest, but a cloak for idleness and inefiiciency; how is 
 a price to be fixed on a difiicult piece of work, except by a detailed 
 account being kept of the time occupied in executing it? — 'Rule 18. 
 
Dublin Carpenters. 421 
 
 That no member of this community shall work for lower wages 
 than 4s. 8<f. per day within the limits, namely, ten miles of the 
 city of Dublin, any member of the community being allowed to 
 contract with any employer beyond said limits for any wages he 
 may get.' That we consider this a most unjust rule, inasmuch as 
 the present rate of wages demanded by the workman is not based 
 on equity, either to the employer or workman; the same rate of 
 wages should not be paid to an incompetent workman as to the man 
 of superior abilities and attention. A classification should therefore 
 be adopted, according to the various capabilities of the workman. — 
 'Rule 21. That any member or members of this community holding 
 out in opposition, so that his shopmates are obliged to turn out 
 against him or them, shall be fined the sum of one guinea and a half: 
 that any member or members of this community that replaces any 
 member or members on the turn-out, shall be fined three guineas.' 
 That this rule we object to, as being most illegal: we have clearly a 
 right to retain those whom we conceive most suitable in our employ- 
 ment, without the dictation or hindrance of any other man in the 
 employment. — 'Rule 22. That any member of trade who seeks 
 employment by means of a letter of recommendation from any but a 
 brother in trade, be fined the sum of one guinea, and if employed 
 through the above means to be taken out of the employment.' That 
 we consider this rule most unjust to the good and well-conducted 
 workman, who might obtain employment by such means, as well as 
 the employer, who should have the privilege of receiving the recom- 
 mendation of his friend. — 'Rule 28. That no member or members 
 of this community shall take piecework from any carpenter or em- 
 ployer where men are employed by the day, under a fine of two 
 guineas.' That we consider we should be at liberty to have the 
 same privilege of any other citizen, should circumstances occur to 
 render this an advantage to all parties. — ' Rule 33. That no working- 
 man's boy be allowed to work under the following stipulated wages; 
 viz., after the first year, 7«. 6d. per week; second ditto, 9s. 9d.; third 
 ditto, 12«.; fourth ditto, 16s. 3d.; fifth ditto, 19s.; sixth ditto, 2l5. 
 8d.' That a stipulated rate of wages is in all cases improper, par- 
 ticularly so to boys, who may be indolent, and from the fact of their 
 being entitled to certain wages from service of time only, without 
 ability, that feeling of energy to excel in learning their trade, which 
 may make the good and sufficient workman, is lowered. — ' Rule 34. 
 That the son of a member of this community, who served his time 
 in the country, shall be admitted on the same terms as a Dublin 
 apprentice, or on the demise of his father shall have liberty to work 
 until he finishes his time, provided his father had been a free 
 member before he was bound apprentice. Any country apprentice 
 generally known by the name of a club apprentice, shall not be 
 allowed to serve a Dublin employer any part of his time that may be 
 wanting to complete the whole; nor shaU such apprentice be allowed 
 to bind himself for seven years to a Dublin employer. All appren- 
 tices when working in the city, or within its limits, to keep their 
 
 E E 2 
 
422 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 masters' tickets clear. That all boys- wliose masters are indulgecf 
 witli a free ticket, shall, at the expiration of four years, come under 
 the same subscription as if their masters had not been so indulged. 
 N.B. — ^AU foremen to be considered as working men.' That this 
 rule interferes with the lawful rights of society; an employer should 
 be allowed to take any apprentice when and from whom he pleases, 
 as should also the workman if he f)leases. This rule, as employers, 
 we cannot suffer, as we consider a foreman, under this obligation, 
 cannot have tliat control over the workman which is so highly 
 necessary, nor can he act faithfully in that capacity under such 
 restrictions.' — 'Rule 37. That any member or members of this com- 
 munity who shall transgress so far through intoxication, or any 
 other misconduct, so as to endanger the loss of any employment, it 
 shall be at all times imperative on the council to take that man or 
 men out of it, and replace him or them with men that they think 
 most proper.' That while we appreciate the good intentions of the 
 former part of this rule, we object to any man coming into our em- 
 ployment, under any circumstances, without our approbation." 
 
 On the 27th of February, the Eegular Body of Carpenters replied, 
 in an address, which simply declared their adherence to their rules, 
 as a whole, but their readiness to adopt any modification that could 
 be shown to advance the real interests of their employers. And a 
 correspondence, which has been already related in the account of 
 the building trade generally, then ensued, as to the possibility and 
 expediency of introducing a classification of wages. 
 
 On the 11th of April, the master builders again met, and passed 
 the following resolutions unanimously : — 
 
 " First. — Seven years to be the term of servitude to learn the 
 carpenter trade, and no apprentice to be entitled to seek, or qualified 
 to receive, journeyman's wages, until he has fully completed said 
 term, to the entire satisfaction of his master. 
 
 " Second. — TIae number of apprentices to employers to be regulated 
 and limited only according to the average number of men known to 
 be employed in each shop. 
 
 " Third. — The regular working day to consist of lOJ hours during 
 the entire year, exclusive of three-quarters of an hour to breakfast 
 and one hour to dinner ; the deficiency of time during the winter 
 months to be made up by candle light, to commence and terminate 
 according to mutual understanding betwixt the employers and 
 employed. 
 
 " Fourth. — A detailed return of all work executed during the week 
 to be given in on Saturday, or such other day as may be appointed, 
 viritten in ink during the operative's own time. 
 
 "Fifth. — That it is quite at variance with the wishes of this 
 meeting to deteriorate the value of labour, but as classification has 
 been entirely objected to, we have, then, no means left of obtaining 
 a fair return for money expended ; for although there are very many 
 men amongst the community possessed of genius, talent, and 
 intelligence to a considerable extent, there are many others who are 
 
Dublin Bricklayers. 423 
 
 only distinguished by their lamentable incapacity, and as the state of 
 trade is not now what it has hitherto been, and as we are likewise 
 totally disqualified, according to the present rate, from competition 
 with some of our rivals ; therefore, in order to strike a medium 
 between the operative of talent, and him of incapacity, as well as 
 for the other reasons assigned, in future £1 Qs. per week be the 
 standard wages, save and except where men, through infirmity or 
 lack of talent, are known to be unable to earn that sum, in which 
 case, an intimation to be given, either through the employer or 
 foreman, to the men in the shop, to whose decision the value of any 
 man or men so circumstanced be left, which shall, iu all cases, be 
 considered as final and conclusive during the period men of such 
 description remain in the employment. 
 
 " Sixth. — Measurement, or piecework, to be undertaken in all nev' 
 buildings where men are not employed by the day, although the 
 employer may have other carpenters at different works, in his work- 
 shops or elsewhere. 
 
 " Seventh. — Foremen to be in all cases such persons as em- 
 ployers may think fit, and it shall be completely and entirely left 
 to their own option to join the com^nunity or not, as they think 
 proper. 
 
 "Eighth. — The wages of journeymen's apprentices to be according 
 to mutual understanding, and" no stipulated or fixed rate to be 
 established for them, except what their talents entitle them to. 
 
 " Ninth. — Dublin carpenters, being employed seven miles outside 
 the city, to work for such wages as they think proper, and during 
 their absence to be in no wise amenable to these rules. 
 
 " Tenth. — A proper qualification and test to be established for 
 applicants wishing to join the community. 
 
 " Eleventh. — That the foregoing resolutions shall, in future, be 
 alone and only recognised and acknowledged as forming the basis 
 for the rules of the carpenters' community of this city ; and any 
 infringement upon or addition thereto, except within the perfect 
 spirit and meaning of said resolutions, shall be considered at 
 variance with our just rights, and foreign to the good understanding 
 it is our study to establish, and which ought to exist between em- 
 ployers and operatives, and which resolutions we are determined to 
 uphold by every means in our power, in order to obtain their total 
 and perfect fulfilment." 
 
 The final result of these negotiations is not mentioned, but it 
 seems that the resolutions of the masters were, at all events, not 
 at first accepted by the regular body of carpenters. 
 
 DUBLIN BRICKLAYERS. 
 
 {Witness : — The Secretary to the Friendly Society of Operative Bricklayers.] 
 
 Amongst the Bricklayers, as amongstthe carpenters, are two so- 
 cieties. The " Old Body of Bricklayers," is a strong society, confined 
 to Dublin aloue; it insists for each of its members upon a uniform 
 
424 Parliamentary Reports on Comhinations, 1838 — 
 
 wage of 4«. 8c?. per diem, and regards the members of the othei' 
 society, called the Friendly Society, and all other bricklayers alike 
 as " colts." 
 
 The Friendly Society of Bricklayers is connected with other socie- 
 ties in England and Scotland, and has for its chief objects the relief 
 of members suffering from sickness or accident, and the inter- 
 ment of members who die. As a trade society, it is evidently very 
 weak, indeed the secretary admits that as yet it has done no good ; 
 it has never raised wages, or been successful in any one instance. 
 Nominally there is required a uniform wage, but this wage is not 
 As. 8d., but 4s. only per diem, and practically the members take 
 what they can get. A short time ago a contractor reduced the 
 wages of his men engaged upon a largo job to Ss. Ad. per diem. 
 Members of the society do not like to work with " colts," who have 
 never been apprenticed, but still do so from necessity. They do not 
 fetter their employers as to the choice of operatives, nor do they im- 
 pose any restriction as to the number of apprentices, though the 
 present number is felt to be excessive. A master represents that a 
 bricklayer's wages in Dublin run from 20*. to 28s. jser week, in 
 Glasgow from 15^. to 20*., but that Dublin wages ought to be 
 higher, since Dublin house-rent, coals, and clothing are dearer. 
 
 DUBLIN SAWYEES. 
 
 [Witnesses : — Two Timlier Merchants ; Two Journeyinen Sawyers.] 
 
 This Society is confined to Dublin, and is not connected with any 
 ^otlaer trade. 
 
 The trade is one which, as compared with some others, needs little 
 skill, and it is even said by some that for a sawyer no apprenticeship 
 is necessary; and this will account for the large number of "colts" 
 amongst sawyers, and the efforts made on one side to exclude them, 
 on the other to admit them. Formerly sawyers had the odious dis- 
 tinction of being considered the most violent trade in support of their 
 Union rules, and in 1826 they committed the murder of Hanlon, and 
 up to the present day, outrages against irregular employers from 
 time to time take place among them ; but an operative declares 
 that there is not one of all the rules in their book for which the 
 trade would turn out. 
 
 Sawyers work and are paid in couples, top and bottom sawyer 
 each receiving an equal share of the wages, except where the bottom 
 sawyer is an apprentice, and then he is entitled to only one-third. 
 
 Formerly piecework was strenuously prohibited, and men were paid 
 by the week, at 62s. the pair. A timber merchant deposes that this 
 system of payment was abused by the men, who would not do a good 
 day's work, and that in 1834 the masters and men met together and 
 settled a uniform scale of prices by the piece, by which a smart pair 
 of sawyers could earn, it is said, 60s. per week between them. This 
 scale is enforced by the unionists, and complied with by the regular 
 masters ; others however declare it to be exorbitantly high, and em- 
 
Dublin Plasterers. 425 
 
 ploy " colts" at reduced and various wages, and even, in particular 
 departments, when they find it economical, substitute the old system 
 of daywork about which they used to complain. 
 
 An irregular master states that the Sawyers' Society resisted the 
 employment of machinery at its first introduction, and up to the 
 present day do not leave to the master free choice from amongst the 
 unionists of what men he shall employ. 
 
 The rules as to apprentices are no longer strictly observed ; 
 according to the letter, no sawyer is allowed to take more than one 
 apprentice, and that one must be a sawyer's son. 
 
 The master already referred to makes a statement that sawyers' 
 wages in Dublin are, owing to the Union maintaining uniform prices, 
 twice as high as country wages in England. The wages of Irish 
 labourers or " colts " are, in the country near Dublin, 8«. or 9s. per 
 week ; in Meath 5s. per week ; in King's County 4«. Qd. per week. 
 
 DUBLIN PLASTERERS' SOCIETY. 
 
 [Witness : — The Secretary to the Operative Plasterers' Soicety.] 
 
 The rules of this Society are printed, and also published. Its 
 objects are stated to be " to relieve the sick, to bury the dead, to 
 provide for the widows and orphans of the deceased members; and, 
 when the funds admit, to relieve the unemployed and distressed, and 
 in many cases to relieve strangers that merely come to Dublin to 
 look for employment; and when they cannot get employment, to pro- 
 vide funds to take them home." The contribution is l\d. per 
 week per member. The secretary is paid £10 per annum; there are 
 about 220 members in the Society, and as many other plasterers in 
 the trade besides. There is not work for one-half of the whole 
 number of plasterers. 
 
 There was a strike in 1826, at the date of the change in the 
 currency, and after two or three weeks the masters eventually gave 
 way; wages were then settled, and have not since been altered. 
 There is no uniform wage, but there are four different rates, vary- 
 ing between 20s. and 14«. per week; the rate for each workman is 
 said to be determined by the Union Committee, who make a differ- 
 lience with regard to age, inability, &c. But, it is clear, not much re- 
 ance can be placed on this statement. The master may give more 
 than these wages if he pleases, and some few men earn 42s. in a week. 
 
 The working hours are ten and three-quarters daily, without 
 deduction. There has never been a dispute on this point. 
 
 No notice is required from either master or man to determine an 
 engagement. 
 
 Piecework is not allowed to be done for master plasterers, but 
 may be jobbed from other persons. Unionists do not work with 
 non-unionists. 
 
 Masters are unrestricted as to their own apprentices, but members 
 of the Union are not suffered to have more club apprentices than 
 they have employment for. Also there are other rules respecting 
 
426 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 apprentices which are still on the books, but are not strictly enforced. 
 They are as follows : — 
 
 Rule 5. No second apprentice shall be taken to this business till 
 the first has served five years, unless to make room for the son of a 
 deceased member. 
 
 Rule 8. No member, till he is four years of community, shall take an 
 apprentice, except his son ; after that time he may take his brother. 
 
 There has been no violence in this trade. 
 
 IRISH HOUSE PAINTERS. 
 
 [Witnesses : — A Journeyman Painter ; A JIaster Painter, late a Journeyman.] 
 
 The evidence of these two witnesses is so irreconcilable that if 
 one is accepted the other must be rejected in toto. Both are 
 equally in a position to speak with authority. The journeyman is 
 acting secretary to the Union; the master painter was a journeyman 
 from the year 1818, when he ceased to bean apprentice, till the year 
 1830, when he became a master ; during the whole of this time, 
 with the exception of two years and a half, he was a member of the 
 Union, and during part of it on the committee, and for sixteen months 
 president. Of the two, the master's account is more specific, and, 
 it is probable, much more to be trusted. 
 
 In 1814 there were two societies in the painting trade, one the 
 regular body, the other the colts, or " the legs and arms." In 1816, 
 at the close of the war, they coalesced, from fear of a general 
 reduction of wages. In 1827 another separation took place. The 
 cause was, that the men elected for president and committeemen 
 notorious " slaters," i.e., advocates of violence, and associated much 
 with the sawyers, at that time a most violent trade; the respectable 
 part of the Society, fearful of outrages, withdrew, to the number of 
 about seventy, and established a new Union, called St. Luke's 
 Society. Those who remained, and who henceforth went by the 
 name of " Magpies," had to recruit their numbers by taking in men 
 who had not served their time, and also were reduced to work for 
 lower wages. In 1835 the two societies were again amalgamated, in 
 consequence of St. Luke's Society falling off in numbers. The 
 present Union includes about one-half of thejourneymen of the trade. 
 
 As to the rules of the Society, the journeyman produced a printed 
 set, which, however, he represented to have not been strictly carried 
 out in practice, especially with respect to apprentices; but the 
 master deposes that these printed rules were never intended to be 
 observed, but existed only as a blind to the public, and that the real 
 rules were quite different, were written in a book called " Shine's 
 book," and were kept secret. 
 
 The weekly subscription is 2d. per week ; the entrance-fee, if the 
 journeyman is to be believed, varies, according to the means of the 
 applicant and the discretion of the committee; 30.?. is the lowest 
 sum paid, £3 3*. the highest; this last is taken from those who 
 have served their apprenticeship in the country. 
 
Irish House Painters. 427 
 
 The Society proliibits piecework. 
 
 As to wages, the journeyman represents that there are different 
 rates, £1 7s. Qd., £\ As., and £1 per week, and that which of these 
 rates the workmen shall receive is a question settled, not by the 
 master, but by the committee, who judge according to the ability of 
 the man; and that £1 As. is the minimum received by an efficient 
 journeyman. The master states that £1 Is. 6d. is the minimum 
 allowed by the Society, except in the case of certain shops to which 
 " magpies" resorted in 1827, on the occasion of the rupture of 
 the Society, and where the low rate of 24*. then established has 
 continued up to the present time. He denies that the committee 
 ever judge of the ability of the workman. 
 
 The journeyman deposes that the Union makes no law as to the 
 hours of labour: the master, that the hours are from six a.m. to six 
 P.M. deducting two hours for meals, and that the men are not allowed 
 to work overtime. 
 
 According to the journeyman, the Union imposes no restriction in 
 the matter of apprentices, except that the employer is compelled to 
 bind his apprentice and take care of him. But the master gives 
 an instance when there was a strike against himself, because 
 he appointed a stranger as an apprentice instead of the son of one 
 of his men who was desirous for the place : and asserts that, when he 
 was in the trade, the rule allowing only two apprentices, or a third 
 when the eldest of the two was in the last year of his term, was 
 carried out. 
 
 The journeyman states that unionists are free to work with non- 
 unionists ; but the master again appeals to a strike amongst his own 
 men, when they laid down the law to him in these words, "You must 
 have all pigeons or all crows." 
 
 The journeyman represents that the funds of the Society are applied 
 for the sick in preference to the unemployed, that the Union will 
 not admit any except efficient workmen, and that this is the cause 
 of the high wages enjoyed by unionists as compared with non- 
 unionists : that they will expel a member for imihorality, and did 
 lately expel one for habitual drunkenness with which his employer 
 charged him : and lastly, that they give to the employer an indem- 
 nity for the honesty of the workmen. The master on the other 
 hand states that no sick were ever relieved whilst he was in the 
 trade ; that some Unionist workmen are mere botchers, whilst the 
 men at present in his employ, and who are "colts," are some of the best 
 men he has ever had : that he has known one unionist expelled for 
 purloining a watch, but no other instance of the sort, and lastly that 
 he has never heard of any indemnity having been either given or 
 asked for. 
 
 The journej'man complains that masters frequently do not pay 
 their men in full on Saturday night : and this, from the master's 
 own account, appears to be frequently the case. Payment for over 
 hours is frequently allowed to accumulate, and occasionally as much 
 as 10s., due for one week, is not paid till the week after. 
 
428 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 A good number of Scotchmen are in tlie trade, and their number 
 is daily increasing : the journeyman represents their presence as an 
 accident resulting from a contract having been taken by a Scotchman, 
 and states that they are about to join the Union, and that they now 
 get full wages, viz., 26s. per week. The master, on the other hand, 
 says that they are competitors with the Union, that they are as good 
 workmen, but that they are ready to work for \6s. or 18«. per week in 
 the country, whilst a Dublin unionist, if he is taken into the country, 
 requires 32i. 6c?. per week, i.e. 27s. 6d. full wages, 2s. for lodgings, 
 and for going into the country 35. extra. 
 
 Both master and journeyman are agreed in one point, that it is 
 Combination which keeps up wages. It is to this cause that the 
 journeyman attributes the fact that Dublin wages, generally, are 
 nearly double the wages received in the country, and that the master 
 attributes the difference between the wages of the Dublin Irish, and 
 the Dublin Scotch painters. But one thinks the wages so kept up fair, 
 the other exorbitant, and, judging by his own experience, that con- 
 tracts will not pay unless carried out by " colts." 
 
 DUBLIN SHEPBUILDEES. 
 
 [Witnesses : — a Master Shipbuilder ; a Timber Merchant.] 
 It is much to be regretted with regard to this trade, that the 
 evidence is of so one-sided a character. The report, in all important 
 particulars, has to rest upon the testimony of a single witness. This 
 witness is a master shipbuilder, in many respects highly qualified to 
 speak, for he served an apprenticeship in the trade at the beginning 
 of the century, entered it as a master in 1812, continued in it till 1830, 
 and is now agent to Lloyd's and inspector of shipping along the 
 coast from Wicklow to Drogheda : but on the other hand his testi- 
 mony is open to considerations arising from his personal circum- 
 stances, and also from the class of masters to which he belongs. 
 After sinking capital to the extent of £5000 in his shipbuilding 
 business in Dublin, and spending nearly twenty years of his life 
 upon it, he totally abandoned it, compelled, according to his own 
 account, by the impracticable rules of the trade union : and he is 
 avowedly one of those masters who believe the regeneration of Dub- 
 lin trade to lie in the multiplication of the number of apprentices, in 
 other words, in stocking the market with more or less unskilled, but 
 cheap labour. His evidence is confirmed by the evidence (so far as 
 it goes) of a timber merchant, one not directly brought into contact 
 with the regulations of the trade union of shipbuilders, and who has 
 pursued his own trade upon the same principle of superseding 
 unionist operatives by the employment of cheap labour in the shape 
 of apprentices, country workmen, and "colts," or imapprenticed 
 journeymen. It would have been far more satisfactory had there 
 been an opportunity of comparing this evidence with counter state- 
 ments, coming from an operative unionist, or from a master builder 
 who had contrived to make a livelihood by the employment of 
 unionist builders at their standard wage. 
 
Dublin Shipbuilders. 429 
 
 Dublin is stated to possess considerable advantages for the shipping 
 trade. The country provides abundance of raw material, timber : and, 
 even were it otherwise, there could be importation with advantage 
 from England, since the expense of freight to Dublin is from twenty 
 to twenty-five per cent, cheaper than to Scotland : a vast number of 
 ships run to and from Dublin, and most of them are owned by Dublin 
 merchants : it frequently happens from the pressure of trade that the 
 orders given to English shipbuilders are more numerous than their 
 stocks enable them to perform, and these would come to Dublin, if 
 they could be executed there : lastly, ships built at Dublin are 
 launched immediately into eighteen-feet-water. 
 
 But, in fact, the shipbuilding trade, whilst increasing at Belfast, 
 Cork, Waterford, and Drogheda, is in Dublin not only stationary but 
 decaying. In 1812 there were four shipbuilders, and there is but 
 the same number now : in 1812 there were from two to three hun- 
 dred operatives, now there are only one hundred. The last vessel 
 of any size built there was in 1825 : there is a smack of only forty- 
 five tons which has now been two years on the stocks and is yet 
 unfinished : the vessels are built in England and Scotland, and the 
 large timber vessels in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 
 
 The cause of this decay the master attributes to the Union. He 
 says he has no doubt that, if the operatives would consent to do 
 away with their rules and regulations, the Dublin masters could in 
 the course of a fortnight or less raise a shipbuilding establishment 
 to the extent of £100,000. The rules referred to are those restrict- 
 ing the number of apprentices, and enforcing an enormously high 
 uniform wage. It does not appear what is the exact nature of the 
 restriction as to apprentices, but it is represented that, according to 
 the present system, only two men would be transferred every year 
 from the apprentice-list to the journeymen-list, irrespective of the 
 number of vacancies amongst the journeymen created by death or 
 otherwise : and that at Dublin there are now no more than twenty, 
 perhaps only ten, apprentices, whereas at Liverpool, where no re- 
 striction exists, there were at the time of the coronation no less than 
 2,000. 
 
 The uniform wage established by the union is 27s. per week; 
 and the master states that half of them are not able to do 2s. worth 
 of work in the day, although there are in Dublin some as good 
 shipbuilding operatives as in any part of the world. Other rules, 
 such as the one requiring no less than eight operatives to put a 
 vessel into dock, &c., are mentioned as in principle obnoxious, but 
 practically not material impediments. 
 
 The conjoined effect of these rules is represented by the master to 
 be, to make shipbuilding in Dublin so expensive, that the masters 
 there find it impossible to compete with English and other markets, 
 and thus the trade is decayed, and unable even to perform the work 
 which does fall to its lot. In support of this view, some facts are 
 mentioned; one, that a gentleman, who was sent over from Scotland to 
 Dublin to superintend the repair of a vessel that had got damaged in 
 
430 Parliamentary Reports on Combinations, 1838 — 
 
 Kingston harbour, said, if he had had any idea of what he was going 
 to be subject to, he would have set fire to the ship sooner than have 
 had her repaired in Dublin ; another, that for repairing one ship of 
 ninety tons, the shipwright's account for labour was three hundred 
 and odd pounds, that is, upward of £3 per ton, whereas vessels can 
 be bought in the north of England for 30*. per ton ; a third, that 
 owing to the delay in repairing, arising from the scarcity of opera- 
 tives, underwriters have in many cases preferred to put themselves 
 to the expense of having their vessels, which have put into Dublin 
 in want of repair, towed thence by steamers over to Liverpool or 
 G-reenock, where, from the abundance of unrestricted labour, they 
 can be repaired in a week. 
 
 It appears that it is only by means of striking that the shipbuilders 
 enforce their rules against those who disregard them by taking in 
 more than the regular number of apprentices or by giving less than 
 the standard wage. There has been no violence amongst them for 
 many years ; the last outrages were about the year 1826, when an 
 apprentice was beaten to death, and a body-guard of police was 
 obliged to be in attendance for three days, whilst a vessel was cop- 
 pered by " colts" and apprentices. 
 
 It is obvious that if there is really room for a shipbuilding trade 
 at Dublin, and if the Union shut it out by rules which are at once 
 impracticable and are not enforced by violence, importation of ship- 
 builders Avould be alike a justifiable, an easy, and a profitable step. 
 It should be added, that at Cork the shipbuilding trade is on the 
 increase, and at the same time there exists in that city a very strong 
 combination of the operatives. 
 
 DUBLIN CANAL TRADE. 
 
 [Witnesses : — Two Boat-owners.] 
 The following statements refer to boat-owners or water-carriers 
 from Dublin to the country towns, conveying goods to shop- 
 keepers, or taking any species of freight. Each boat is given 
 in charge to a captain, who finds two assistants and generally a 
 horse for himself, and receives and divides the pay ; the pay, 
 settled many years ago at a meeting of masters and men, is never a 
 matter of dispute ; it is 50*. per week, or 32«. if the employer find 
 the horse and his keep. Out of this sum, the captain pays \0s. 
 to each of the men, and keeps the rest for himself. When the 
 goods are put on board, the captain gives a receipt for them, but 
 enters into no further written agreement ; it often happens that, in 
 the transit, goods are spoilt by neglect, or, upon delivery, are found 
 deficient in quantity. Indeed, there is some suspicion that an 
 organized system of pilfering goes on. On these occasions the 
 master holds the captain responsible, and himself entitled to deduct 
 from the wages enough to indemnify him for the loss. The men's 
 union, however, at the same time prohibits the master from putting 
 on board any supercargo at his own expense, and repudiates any 
 such responsibility as attached to the captain, and will not tolerate 
 
Dublin Canal Trade. 431 
 
 any deductions. More than this, they do not allow the captain of a 
 boat to be dismissed by his master on any account whatever, not 
 even for the grossest incapacity, neglect, or dishonesty. The way 
 they enforce this rule is, that if any deductions are made, the captain 
 strikes, and takes his men with him, or the captain is dismissed, and 
 they go too. No members of the Union are suffered to take their 
 place, and the intimidation practised is so strong, that it is impossible 
 for the employer to procure boatmen who do not belong to the Union. 
 The consequence is that the boat must lie idle, till the master yields, 
 and reinstates the captain. One witness deposes that lately, at the 
 end of a trip of one of his barges, twenty barrels of oats, value £11, 
 were missing, and not accounted for ; he dismissed the captain, but 
 his boat had to lie eight months idle, and then he was compelled to 
 take back the man into his service. 
 
 The masters represent that they are completely overpowered, and 
 dare not resist. They give three instances of the impolicy of 
 resistance. A master appointed a stranger, and shortly afterwards 
 his boat was burnt. Another declined to appoint the son of a 
 deceased captain in his father's place, and had his boat sunk. The 
 same employer dismissed a man from another boat, and had this 
 boat sunk also. But little reliance should be placed on these cases ; 
 in none of them did the employer take steps to procure legal 
 redress, or had any evidence that the losses were the result of cri- 
 minal intention, except that they were unaccounted for by those in 
 charge of the boats at the time, and that they happened shortly after 
 some cause of offence had been given to the Union. 
 
 The Union was established in 1822, and the masters state that its 
 conduct has become much more oppressive and intimidating since 
 the repeal of the combination laws. 
 
 The whole of this evidence must obviously be taken with some 
 qualification, since there was no evidence given on the other side. 
 
ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 WEAYEES' STEIKE AT PADIHAM 
 
 IN 1859. 
 
 PREPAKED POK 
 
 Slilje Wattnnal ^ssnctatinn iax tfjt ^rDmnttoit of Social Scimtt, 
 
 AT THE KEQUEST OP THE COMMITTEE ON TEADES' SOCIETIES. 
 
 Bt WILLIAM A. JEVONS. 
 
 This strike arose amongst the weavers of Padiham, in the month 
 of March, 1859, and lasted about half a year. 
 
 Padiham is a large village, or rather a small town, in East Lanca- 
 shire, situated between Burnley and Accrington, and containing about 
 8000 inhabitants. Its rise as a manufacturing town, dates from the 
 opening of railway communication through the district. It has 
 thirteen mills, three of which are exclusively for spinning. Four of 
 the weaving establishments remained at work during the strike, and 
 six were wholly or partially at a stand-still. 
 
 Blackburn is the leading manufacturing town in the East Lan- 
 cashire district, and in Blackburn there is a powerful and well 
 managed Union amongst the operatives, and also an Association 
 among the masters. These two associations, in place of exhausting 
 their strength in contests, in which both parties would inevitably be 
 losers, have pulled well together — the result of which has been, that 
 they agreed some years ago, upon lists of prices of the various 
 descriptions of work in the cotton manufacture of the district, which 
 lists are known as the Blackburn Standard Lists. Table number 
 one of these lists gives the wages of the spinner, and was compiled 
 and agreed to on the 1st of October, 1852. Another table gives 
 loomers' wages, and was agreed to on the 6th July, 1853; a third, 
 containing the wages for winding, beam- warping, and tape-sizing, is 
 dated the I7th of August, 1853; and the fourth is of weavers' 
 wages, compiled on the l7thof August, 1853. These tables do not 
 constitute an invariable fixed rate, but form a sort of basis, on which 
 the calculations of wages are made, and with reference to which 
 every rise or fall is regulated. For example — the spinners at Black- 
 burn now receive an advance of 15 per cent., and the weavers an 
 advance of 5 per cent, on the printed tables. The advance of wages 
 
434 Account of the 
 
 in Blackburn is agreed upon by the respective committees of the 
 masters and men, and when adopted, is made uniformly and simulta- 
 neously throughout the branch of trade affected by it. 
 
 The table of wea^'ers' wages is a very complicated one, and the 
 system of calculation on which it is based, one which it would be in 
 vain to attempt to explain fully on paper, without diagrams, to any 
 one not practically acquainted with the machinery. The amount of 
 labour of a weaver superintending a power -loom cannot be estimated 
 by the mere number of pieces of cloth woven, without taking into 
 consideration the nature of the machinery with which he is working, 
 and the description of cloth that he is weaving. A loom employed 
 on a cloth of loose texture, would of course turn out a greater 
 quantity than one employed on cloth of a fine and close texture; 
 and, if the weavers were paid by the piece, without reference to the 
 fineness of the cloth, a weaver employed on coarse cloth would 
 receive three or four times the amount of wages earned by one 
 employed on fine cloth. The object of the table in question is to 
 give an easy means of rectifying this inequality, and equalizing the 
 amounts earned by persons employed on different descriptions of 
 cloth, fixing of course a low rate for coarse cloths and a high 
 rate for fine ones. These rates vary for pieces of the same length 
 and width, as much as from 3"98 of a penny to 15'37, and are ex- 
 pressed in decimals. In order to fix the amount of wages by this 
 table, there must be ascertained, first the fineness of the reed, which 
 determines the number of threads in the warp, and is exijressed as a 
 reed containing so many dwts. per inch ; second, the thickness of the 
 thread in the warp and in the weft ; third, the number of threads 
 in the weft, expressed as the number of picks per quarter of an inch 
 of the cloth, each pick or thread of course representing one throw of 
 the shuttle ; fourth, the width of the loom ; fifth, the width of the 
 cloth ; and sixth, the length of the piece of cloth. 
 
 The most important item in this table is obviously the number of 
 picks, as that represents the number of throws of the shuttle. The 
 number of threads in a quarter of an inch of cloth would appear to 
 be an easy matter to determine by a magnifying glass ; but in practice 
 that test is considered not suflSciently accurate, on account of the 
 stretching of the cloth, and a complicated calculation is resorted to, 
 in order to obtain the result. It is impossible to explain the principle 
 of this calculation without a diagram, and it must sufince to say that 
 it is based on the circumference of a beam, called the emery beam, 
 and the number of teeth in five different wheels. One step in this 
 calculation gives a figure called the dividend, an expression which 
 will occur in the documents I shall have to allude to, and this divi- 
 dend being divided by the number of teeth on the wheel called the 
 change wheel, gives the number of picks in a quarter of an inch of 
 the cloth woven. 
 
 In this calculation the number of teeth in the wheels is an item 
 which may be determined with ease and perfect accuracy, but the 
 circumference of the emery beam is a matter which requires more 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 435 
 
 nicety. The emery beam is a round wooden beam, covered witli 
 two coatings of glue, strewed with, ground glass, and its use is to 
 draw the cloth off as it is woven. The cloth passes partly round the 
 emery beam, and, owing to the rough surface of the beam, adheres to 
 it, so that the rotation of the beam draws the warp through the loom. 
 
 When these beams have been some time in use, the rough coating 
 gets wholly or partially worn off, and requires renewing. This 
 coating on the beam increases its circumference about a quarter of an 
 inch, and consequently, when worn, the circumference of the beam is 
 diminished. Ee-coating these beams is called adjusting the emery 
 beams. Part of the disputes at Padiham turned on the adjusting of 
 the emery beams, and the alleged deficiency in their circumference ; 
 but when it is remembered what the object of the emery beam is, it 
 will be perceived that it was as much the interest of the masters, as 
 of the operatives, to have the emery beams in proper order, and of 
 the right circumference. 
 
 To the foregoing explanation it should be added, that according to 
 directions appended to the Blackburn Standard List, certain allow- 
 ances are to be made for looms of widths intermediate between those 
 given in the table, and also for reeds of intermediate descriptions. 
 
 From the complicated nature of this calculation, and the number 
 of the data on which it depends, it will be obvious that but few of 
 the weavers would be competent to determine whether the prices 
 they were paid for their work were or were not according to the 
 Blackburn standard rates. 
 
 In giving the details of the Padiham dispute I have adopted the 
 following plan. I have mainly relied upon published documents, and 
 have given such of the statements put forth by the parties to the dis- 
 jiute as appeared of sufficient importance to extract. I have also had 
 the benefit of receiving information from a master manufacturer of 
 the neighbourhood, whose men were not concerned in the strike, and 
 from two intelligent tradesmen of the town, both of whom had been 
 members of a committee formed for the purpose of mediating in the 
 dispute, and one of whom was apparently induced to think the men 
 in the right, the other the masters. All my informants had taken 
 pains to acquant themselves, at the time of the strike, with the merits 
 of the case, and had collected documents bearing upon it. As to the 
 immediate parties to the dispute, they have been applied to by the 
 secretary of the committee to whom this report is addressed to 
 furnish statements, but have not done so ; I have, however, found 
 the case of each side pretty fully stated in published documents, the 
 opposing statements of which appear so contradictory of each other, 
 that it would probably have served no useful purpose to take the 
 personal testimony of the disputants, particularly as there is in this 
 case, as will presently be seen, the unusual advantage of having the 
 principal point in dispute examined into and adjudicated upon by 
 disinterested third parties, whose means of forming a correct conclu- 
 sion were much superior to any that could be enjoyed by an inquirer 
 at a distance, relying upon testimony merely. 
 
 r r 
 
436 Account of the 
 
 Previously to the strike there had not been a good feeling between 
 the Padiham operatives and the masters. The existence of this ill- 
 feeling I hear from several sources, and I cannot doubt the fact ; but 
 the precise cause of it is more difficult to determine. It probably 
 arose from faults on both sides. Some of the masters, I am 
 informed, were persons who had comparatively recently sprung from 
 tiie operative class; and though that in itself is no reproach to them, 
 but the reverse, it might naturally be expected that the operatives 
 would be less ready to submit to a master who had recently been one 
 amongst themselves, than to one who had always been in a station 
 above them. At one of the public meetings I find it thrown in the 
 teeth of one of the masters, that he had formerly been concerned in 
 a dispute on the wages question on the other side. 
 
 The Padiham operative weavers, on, the other hand, are known 
 even amongst the Lancashire operatives as a rude and independent 
 race. Some years before the strike they had established two 
 co-operative concerns, one called the Commercial Company, for 
 weaving, and the other called the Cotton League Company, for both 
 weaving and spinning ; neither of which undertakings, unfortu- 
 nately, met with the success that has attended similar establishments 
 at Rochdale. No such concei'ns can possibly succeed, unless the 
 functions of managers and operatives are kept distinct, and share- 
 holders working as operatives are prepared to submit to a manager 
 who is their own servant. This difliculty the Rochdale men have 
 overcome ; but in Padiham it led, combined probably with other 
 causes, to the total failure of both the co-operative mills, one of 
 them winding up with a heavy debt, which had to be liquidated by 
 the shareholders. 
 
 The successful working of these concerns would, probably, have 
 introduced a better feeling between capitalists and labourers, by 
 bringing the men into practical acquaintance with some of the risks 
 and difficulties attendant upon capital, and with the smallness of the 
 margin which sometimes rejjresents profit; but their cotton failure, 
 and the circumstance that, on the sale of the mill which belonged 
 to one of them, it was bought up by a person who had recently been 
 the manager for the shareholders, had precisely the contrary effect, 
 namely, that of embittering the feelings of the men. Shortly before 
 the Padiham strike, a large trade society had been formed by the 
 weavers in the district, called " The East Lancashire Amalgamated 
 Power-loom Weavers' Association." The following are the most 
 important matters contained in the printed rules of this society : — 
 
 " PEEPACE. 
 
 "It is unnecessary to expatiate on the general usefulness of opera- 
 tives being united, as the means of preventing reductions in wages ; 
 that it is of the greatest utility is proved by the fact that those 
 trades which are the best paid are those which have been the 
 longest and most efficiently protected by a union of the operatives 
 engaged in them^ 
 
 " The inefficiency of the methods, or rather want of method^ here- 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 437 
 
 tofore resorted to by power-loom weavers, for the protection and 
 maintenance of their interests, and the improvement of their con- 
 dition, has long been a matter of deep regret, and has at length 
 caUed into existence a wide-spread desire for some more systematic 
 plan by which the earnings of weavers, &c., may be rendered more 
 secure. 
 
 " No doubt experience will point out many improvements. They 
 are presented merely as a germ from which may spring a vigorous 
 plant, which being fostered by the genial showers of a united effort, 
 and enlivened by the bright sunshine of intelligence, will send forth 
 its gigantic branches, under whose shadow the sons of the loom may 
 repose in security. 
 
 " OBJECTS. 
 
 " The objects of this association shall be to keep up our present rate 
 of wages to the standard list, and to be able to resist any attempts 
 to reduce the same, and also to prevent one employer paying less 
 than another, for the same amount and quality of work, and more 
 particularly to bring up the prices of those who are paying the 
 lowest rate of wages ; also the redressing of any grievances between 
 employer and the employed. It shall also be the object of this 
 association to cultivate amongst its members that fellow-feeling of 
 social brotherhood which ever tends to alleviate human woes, and 
 soothe the hard lot of the labourer ; and also to render assistance to 
 the relatives of deceased members of this society, to the best of its 
 ability. 
 
 "bules. 
 
 "1. This society shall be called 'The East Lancashire Amal- 
 gamated Power-loom Weavers' Friendly Society, and their depen- 
 dents.' 
 
 " 2. That this society be governed by a central executive com- 
 mittee, consisting of one representative from every 700 members, 
 and two, if more. 
 
 " 8. The central executive committee shall direct and control the 
 general proceedings of this society for and in the name of this 
 society. It shall have the power to make new laws, or amend 
 old ones ; but one month's notice shall be given to all the dis- 
 trict committees of any important alteration of old laws, or intro- 
 duction of new ones. It shall receive all applications from the 
 district committees for advice or assistance, and shall act thereon as 
 it may deem fit. It shall have the power to object to or approve 
 of strikes, when other means to settle disputed matters fail, and 
 no strike shall be considered legal or worthy of support, unless 
 it be approved of by the central executive committee. It shall 
 fix the amount of contributions to be paid by the members of this 
 society for the support of any strike that may have been sanc- 
 tioned by the central executive committee ; but at no time shall the 
 contributions be less than one penny per week. It shall, by media- 
 tion, arbitration, and legal proceedings, protect the interests and 
 promote the wellbeing of this society in all cases of dispute and 
 
 FP 2 
 
438 Account of the 
 
 difficulties : and generally, it shall take the most efficient means in 
 its power to promote the objects of this society. 
 
 " 19. That the weekly subscriptions be one penny per member, and 
 each member's house be supplied with a card, on which the collector 
 must enter members' names, with date of entrance, and all contribu- 
 tions before leaving the house." 
 
 20. Directs the collectors to hand over their collections every week. 
 
 21. Requires collectors to iind security. 
 
 22. Provides that collectors shall be paid not more than 2s. Qd., 
 or less than 2s. \d., in the pound. 
 
 23. Provides that no member shall be admitted except he be in 
 good health, and at work at the time. 
 
 24. Provides for payment of £3 funeral money to relatives of 
 deceased members. 
 
 "disputes. 
 "28. If the members of this society in any mill, shop, or place, 
 should have a reduction of prices offered them, or should the im- 
 position of any rule or regulation be attempted that is calculated to 
 curtail the earnings of those members, or render their situations 
 unnecessarily uncomfortable; or should the prices of any mill, shop, 
 or place be already so low as to justify an advance, the members of 
 such mill, shop, or place shall make a full statement in writing of 
 their grievances, to be called a " Bill of Grievances," and they shall 
 in the first place lay such bill of grievances before the district com- 
 mittee, who shall, after proper investigation, proceed to take such 
 steps as shall, if possible, amicably arrange the matter of dispute 
 between the employer and employed. But if, after having tried 
 every means to amicably arrange any dispute that shall have been 
 called into existence as aforementioned, it shall be found impossible 
 
 to do so WITHOUT ENCEOACHING ON THE WAGES OR PEIVILEGES OP 
 
 THE MEMBEES, then the district committee shall direct its secretary 
 to write a copy of the bill of grievances, and send it to the general 
 secretary, who, immediately on receiving the same, shall forward a 
 copy to the committee of every other district, with summons, calling 
 a meeting of the central executive committee; such meeting shall 
 take place within nine days from the receipt of the same by the 
 general secretary, if possible. 
 
 " 29. That no case of dispute shall be entertained by the central 
 executive committee, unless it has been previously investigated by 
 the district committee, and a copy duly forwarded to the general 
 secretary, who shall forward copies of the same to each district 
 committee in this association. 
 
 " 30. Should the central executive committee (after full and care- 
 ful investigation into any bill of grievances) resolve that the mem- 
 bers for which such bill emanates shall strike, the said members shall 
 be authorized to give a legal notice to their employer that they 
 intend to leave his employ, and if satisfactory arrangements be not 
 come to before the expiration of such notice, the said members shall 
 leave their work, and be entitled to support from this association. 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 439 
 
 "31. Whenever any strike shall have received the sanction of the 
 central executive committee, each district in the association shall pay 
 towards the support of such strike, in proportion to the number of 
 paying members in the district, and the number of individuals on 
 strike. And the sum due from each district, for the support of such 
 strike, shall be transmitted through some safe medium to the com- 
 mittee of the district in which the strike may exist, at least two 
 days before the day on which the parties on strike receive their pay. 
 
 " 32. That when any member of this association apply to the 
 general secretary yb?- the rate of wages per standard list, he must 
 communicate with his or her employer on the subject; and should 
 any member or members think that they have been unjustly dis- 
 charged or unlawfully dealt with by their employers, the case must 
 be brought before the district committee, according to the 28th rule, 
 and strictly investigated before any legal proceedings be taken; any 
 member or members acting contrary to these rules must bear the 
 responsibility on themselves." 
 
 During the depi'ession of the cotton trade that preceded its recent 
 prosperity, two firms in the town had made a reduction in their 
 prices for weaving. The hands did not willingly submit to this 
 reduction, which was not made by the other masters at that time. 
 This led to dissatisfaction on the part of the hands of the two firms 
 in question, and they had meetings on the subject. When the 
 reduction took place the masters, it is alleged, told the hands that 
 the amount taken off should be put on again when trade revived. 
 When, however, the revival of trade took place, instead of putting 
 on the full amount taken off they only offered one-half. This 
 increased the dissatisfaction, and led to a large number of the 
 workpeople joining the East Lancashire Weavers' Association, with 
 a view of getting the wages of the district raised up to the Black- 
 burn standard list. At this time the wages of the whole of the 
 Padiham masters, whose men subsequently struck, were decidedly 
 below the Blackburn rates. They were thought by the masters 
 themselves to be 12 J per cent, below, though it ultimately turned 
 out, as will be seen, that the real difference was not so great 
 Some negotiation took place between the operatives and their 
 employers, in which the secretary of the Union also took part, with 
 a view of getting the wages raised to the Blackburn standard, but 
 without success, and ultimately the operatives served the masters with 
 notices to leave their employment, and sent in lists of the prices 
 they required. 
 
 The employers called a meeting at the Assembly Room, on the 
 first Monday after the notices were served, and a request was made 
 to all the operatives to attend. 
 
 Several of the masters spoke at this meeting, but the operatives 
 objected to hear one or two of them, on account of the strong 
 feeling which existed against them, through their connexion with 
 the co-operative establishments before referred to. The masters 
 had come to this meeting with the intention of offering within 2J 
 
440 Account of the 
 
 per cent, of the Blackburn standard list prices, being a rise of ten per 
 cent, on their previous prices. The allowance of 2 J per cent, they 
 claimed to cover what they considered the local disadvantages of 
 Padiham,as compared with Blackburn. On account of the uproarious 
 character of the meeting, arising from the before-mentioned causes, 
 this proposition was not actually on that occasion, but it was after- 
 wards, handed to the reporter, and appeared in the Blackburn 
 Weekly Times of the Saturday following. The prices offered by 
 each master were also, I believe, posted up in his own mill. 
 
 The cotton manufacture was at this time (March, 1859) as is well 
 known, in a highly prosperous condition, and the Padiham masters 
 were naturally anxious that their promising prospects of trade should 
 not be interfered with by a strike, and I am informed by a manufac- 
 turer in the neighbourhood, that he considered the jsrices offered at 
 Padiham, for the purpose of avoiding the strike, higher than the 
 masters could properly afford to pay. 
 
 The prices offered did not expressly refer to the Blackburn 
 standard list, but were specific prices based on the particular looms 
 of the employer, and the description of work he was doing. For 
 example, I find the following jjut forth as a copy of the offer posted 
 in the mill of a gentleman whose hands remained in during the strike : 
 
 Loom. "Width of clotli. Length. Reed. Wheel. Price. 
 40in. 39in. 37^ 51 41 9 
 
 The other conditions necessary to determine whether the prices 
 so offered were in accordance with the Blackburn list, would be 
 settled by the construction of the particular looms with reference 
 to which the offer was made, and it would therefore need further calcu- 
 lations, based upon an examination of the looms, to determine that 
 point. 
 
 The prices offered were, however, as before stated, not in the first 
 instance professed to be equal to the Blackburn Standard List, but 
 were brought forward as being 2J per cent, under it on account of 
 local disadvantages. 
 
 The proper measure of these local disadvantages, if any, I am un- 
 able to decide, as I find very difierent opinions expressed by persons 
 equally likely to be well informed on the subject. The only jjoint 
 on which I find agreement, is that Padiham is under some disad- 
 vantage owing to the higher rates of railway carriage from and to 
 Liverpool and Manchester, Blackburn paying about 10«. and 8s. 2d. 
 a ton, against \2s. 6d. and 9s. 2d. paid at Padiham. 
 
 In other particulars Padiham would, I conceive, have the advan- 
 tage, namely cheapness of land, and better supply and greater cheap- 
 ness of water. Which preponderates I am unable to determine on the 
 whole. When we see so many mills erected, and in the course of 
 erection, at a distance from the centres of population and from the 
 markets for raw and manufactured produce, we can only conclude 
 that it mtst be because in practice the advantages and disadvantages 
 of such localities are, to say the least, pretty nearly balanced. If it 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 44 
 
 were not so, we should have seen the new mills all crowded in the 
 immediate vicinity of Manchester. Probably, however, one of the 
 advantages which manufacturers propose to themselves when they 
 resort to the remoter parts of the manufacturing districts, is cheap- 
 ness of labour, which no doubt they would, at first at least, find to 
 be the case, as a new mill absorbs the rural population of the ad- 
 joining district, to whom even what to a manufacturing population 
 appears to be a low rate of wages, is a great improvement on any- 
 thing they could earn by other occupations. And supposing the 
 view of the manufacturers to be correct, that putting wages -out of 
 sight, the balance of other advantages and disadvantages is against 
 places situated like Padiham, there would be no hardship to the 
 operative in reducing his wages, to some extent, to meet it, for the 
 expense of living to an operative must be greater in a town like 
 Blackburn, than in a country place like Padiham ; wherefore, lower 
 wages would go as far. 
 
 There are also at present, I am given to understand, practical 
 differences between Padiham and Blackburn owing to the difference 
 of the materials used, most of the Blackburn weavers using warps 
 spun by the mule, whilst at Padiham throstle warps are employed. 
 The mule warps are cheaper for the masters by about one or one 
 and a half per pound, but are worse for the men, as they are not 
 so strong as throstle warps, and there are therefore more broken 
 threads, and consequently more stoppages of the machinery ; so that 
 if working by the same list of prices, a Blackburn man would have 
 to work harder for the same money than a Padiham man. 
 
 This question, however, of local disadvantages is of not very 
 great moment in the Padiham strike; but I understand that it is the 
 main question at issue in a strike now in progress at the neighbour- 
 ing town of Colne. 
 
 At Padiham, however, at a later period of the strike, it was con- 
 tended by the employers that the prices originally offered, as being 
 2J per cent, below the Blackburn list, were in fact fully equal to 
 the Blackburn prices, and upon this question, and not upon the 
 propriety of the allowance of 2J per cent., the decision of the dispute 
 ultimately turned. There seems good reason to think that if the 
 Padiham masters had more promptly met the demand of their hands 
 for a rise in wages, by making the offer they afterwards made, before 
 the notices had been given by the operatives, their offer would have 
 been accepted, and there would have been no strike. But when the 
 offer came, the operatives having found they could not get an advance at 
 all, without the threat of a struggle, had put themselves in the hands 
 of the Union, and made their ari-angements to stand a strike. There 
 was therefore not only no disposition to regard favourably so tardy a 
 concession, obviously merely wrung from the masters by threat of a 
 strike, but the operatives were not unnaturally disposed to leave 
 themselves in the hands of the managers of an association, which, by 
 standing by them in their difficulty, had already enabled them to get 
 so important a concession. The masters, by their unwise and 
 
442 Account of the 
 
 illiberal conduct, had thrown their men into the arms of the Asso- 
 ciation. 
 
 If the managers of the Union had been satisfied with this sub- 
 stantial victory, and had compared the value of the amount in dis- 
 pute, or supposed to be in dispute (about 3d. to 6d. a week in a 
 weaver's wages), with the heavy loss and other evils attendant upon 
 a protracted strike, it would have been well. But the principle on 
 which they act appears to be (see 32nd rule) to assimilate all wages 
 in the East Lancashire district to the Blackburn standard List, and 
 iipon.this they acted, requiring to be satisfied that the j)i'ices offered 
 were equal to the Blackburn list. In order to determine this ques- 
 tion, it was of course necessary to examine the looms. This state 
 -of things introduced a new feature into the dispute, namely, the 
 appearance of the Union, as it were,as a principal in the matter ; and 
 inasmuch as the difference depended upon points which could only 
 be determined by inspection of the looms, it practically involved a 
 • claim that the committee or secretary of the Union, or some one 
 appointed by them, should have the liberty of entering the mills 
 and examining the looms. This position of affairs was the great 
 stumbling-block in the way of the settlement of a really very 
 trifling dispute. The men would not settle except through the 
 Union, and the masters would not deal with the Union, or permit its 
 secretary to enter their mills to examine the machinery. 
 
 The masters alleged that two of the points in difference were, to 
 establish the right of the paid secretary of the Union to enter their 
 -mills at his pleasure, and to annul the right of mastei- and man to 
 arrange any dispute, substituting the secretary as the only medium 
 of communication. Mr. Pinder, the secretary of the Union, in a 
 letter, which will be afterwards quoted (see page 459), denies the 
 first of these allegations, but takes no notice of the second. The 
 allegation that a claim was made that the secretary should have a 
 general right to enter any mill at his pleasure, is not borne out by 
 facts but in this particular instance no doubt the claim to enter the 
 mills to measure the beams was practically made, for I not only 
 gather that fact from impartial testimony, but find it confirmed by 
 Mr. Pinder himself, in a placard dated the 24th of March, and pur- 
 porting to be signed by him on behalf of the Power-loom Weavers' 
 Association, in which he says, 
 
 " It is true I have waited upon masters at different times previous 
 to the strike, and requested them, on behalf of the hands, to pay 
 according to the Blackburn standard list of prices, and also to allow 
 an inspection of the looms, in order that we might arrive ut a correct 
 report of the real difference in point of price, and to give satisfaction 
 to all parties. These requests they positively refused to concede, hence 
 the present strike." 
 
 I do not find, except in one case, any strong efforts made at this time 
 by either party, to get rid of the diflficulty they had got into by 
 eluding it, as for instance, by suggesting that the looms should be 
 measured by some third party. That such an effort might have sue- 
 
Weavers^ Strike at Padiham. 443 
 
 ceeded, without any sacrifice of principle, is proved by its success in 
 the case before alluded to, which will be more fully noticed hereafter. 
 
 The reason of this probably was that the masters did not then 
 believe they were offering the Blackburn List prices, nor profess to 
 do so. 
 
 Under these circumstances the strike commenced; the men wovild 
 only approach their masters through the Union and its secretary 
 the principle of the Union was to obtain the standard list and 
 nothing less. A claim of the standard list involved an inspection 
 of the machinery : the masters on their side abided by their own 
 list, and declined to treat with the secretary, or to allow him to 
 examine their looms ; and the weavers consequently acted on their 
 notices ; and the hands of six mills went out on the 1 7th of March, 
 1859. 
 
 The number of hands thus throwing themselves out of employment 
 appears, by the balance-sheets issued by the Union, showing the 
 numbers they were paying, to have been about 870 weavers, 6 over- 
 lookers, 61 tenters or assistants, and 6 warehouse boys. The 
 numbers returned as supported by the Union vary slightly from 
 week to week, and the above are the largest numbers I find under 
 each class. It seems at first surprising that the weavers should have 
 thus thrown themselves out of employment for so trifiing a dispute, 
 and it would be so, if they were all persons of mature age, but the 
 majority of them are youths and girls from fourteen or fifteen years of 
 age upwards, the age when they are most open to hasty impressions, 
 and least ready to listen to the teachings of experience. The superin- 
 tending a power-loom is an easy business, and a youth or girl of fifteen 
 is equal to superintending three looms, and could earn from \5s. to 
 l7s. a week, whilst a grown-up man could not undertake more than 
 four, on which he would need an assistant called a tenter, and his net 
 wages, after paying his tenter, would be about £1 a week. When 
 on strike the weavers were allowed by the Union, at first Qs. a week, 
 which was afterwards raised to Is.; the ovei'lookers the same; the 
 warehouse boys, at first As., afterwards 5s. ; the tenters, at first Zs., 
 afterwards 3*. 6d. 
 
 If the Padiham masters had been unsupported, the Union would 
 have been much too strong for them, and they must have succumbed 
 at once; but they stated the circumstances of the dispute to the 
 masters of the neighbouring district, and applied to them for 
 support, which was granted, on the express ground that the dispute 
 was not a mere question of wages, but one of dictation. This led 
 to the formation of a Masters' Defence Association, by whom the 
 Padiham masters were supported throughout the strike, the allowance 
 being at the rate of 2s. 6d. per loom per week. The total amount so 
 contributed during the strike was between £6000 and £7000. The 
 following circular of the Masters' Association, though dated a little 
 after the time I am now speaking of, will best explain the aspect in 
 which the Padiham strike now appeared to the employers of labour 
 in the neighbourhood : — 
 
444 Account of the 
 
 " To the Master Spinners and Manufacturers of the County of 
 
 Lancaster. 
 
 " GENTLEJiEJf, — In the opinion of many ispimiers and manufac- 
 turers, it is considered desirable that a greater unanimity should 
 exist amongst the masters, and that it is imperative some determined 
 effort should now be made to check the schemes and intentions of 
 the amalgamated societies of the operatives. The extent to which 
 these combinations have arrived, is, perhaps, not generally known; 
 but it is impossible for anyone to be acquainted with the perfection 
 in which they exist, and the immense power with which their 
 demands can be supported, without feeling considerable alarm at the 
 prospect of the conditions under which the trade must be carried on 
 if these societies are permitted to continue in active operation. The 
 great difficulty in inducing the masters to combine, has originated 
 partly from a feeling that combination means an interference with 
 that law which alone regulates the rate of wages, viz., ' Supply 
 and Demand,' and jsartly from an apathetic feeling that because they 
 individually are not immediately attacked, they are in no danger. 
 This, coupled with the very reverse feeling on the part of the 
 operatives, who are ever ready to combine to enforce an illegitimate 
 advance of wages, clearly accounts for the force with which their 
 demands are supported, and also for the utter want of union or 
 community of feeling amongst the masters. 
 
 " We are perfectly satisfied that any effort, however powerfully 
 supported it might be, to regulate the rate of wages, or to establiah 
 any uniform rate or standard, would prove fruitless, if not absolutely 
 injurious to the masters themselves. We believe that this question 
 must be left to each master and each operative for arrangement, and 
 that the state of the labour market, coupled with the further 
 circumstances of locality, quality of machinery and materials, and 
 the capabilities of the operative, will, and indeed ought to settle the 
 amount. With these views we need hardly state that the Associa- 
 tion of Masters which is now proposed to be established, will not 
 deal with, or have power to entertain any question of wages; but will 
 endeavour solely to counteract the combinations and actions of the 
 Operatives' Associations, by affording pecuniary assistance to every 
 master whose hands may leave him at the suggestion of any society, 
 or be supported by such society. In justification of this proposition, 
 we will detail the position in which the cotton trade of East Lan- 
 cashire now stands. 
 
 " Within the last twelve months there has been established a society 
 called ' The East Lancashire Amalgamated Power-Loom Weavers' 
 Association,' numbering about 12,000 members, resident in the 
 various towns and districts in the eastern portions of the county. 
 The head or executive committee holds council at Bolton, and is 
 assisted by a permanently engaged and paid secretary, and by other 
 executive or local committees. Its objects (openly avowed) 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 
 
 445 
 
 "First, — Irrespective of any diiFerence in the quality of macliinery, 
 materials, or labour, and without reference to the disadvantages of 
 locality, or the cost of production, to enforce the payment of one 
 uniform rate of wages, or, as they term it, ' The Standard List.' 
 
 " Secondly, — To establish the right of their paid secretary for 
 the time being, to enter any mill at his pleasure, and to examine the 
 machinery ; and 
 
 " Thirdly, — To annul the right of master and man to settle and ar- 
 range any dispute or misunderstanding that may arise, substituting 
 a Mr. Pinder (their present paid secretary) as the only medium of 
 communication between the employer and employed. 
 
 " To carry these objects into effect, Padiham is the first place 
 selected for the operations of this newly organized association, and 
 other towns are to follow. 
 
 " Accordingly, a portion of the Padiham operatives, at the dictation 
 of this executive and paid secretary, made demands on their masters 
 in entire accord with the three foregoing objects of their association: 
 viz., First, — A rate of wages equal to the Standard List; Secondly, 
 — The right of this Mr. Pinder to enter all mills, measure emery 
 beams, and count wheels, with the further right to order such 
 alterations as he might deem necessary ; and Thirdly, — A meeting 
 between the masters and Mr. Pinder, to arrange the amount to be 
 paid on each kind of cloth. 
 
 " The masters indignantly refused to submit to such humiliating 
 conditions ; they positively refused to recognise Mr. Pinder; but 
 expressed their williTigness to meet their own hands and arrange 
 the. amount of the advance. Each master offered an advance, in 
 some cases more than the Standard List, in others equal to it, and in 
 none more than a farthing per piece below it. Yet because they 
 refused to recognise Mr. Pinder or the Association, the hands struck 
 work on the 1 7th of March last, and, with few exceptions, nt)w 
 remain out on strike. It will, therefore, be seen that the question in 
 dispute is not a question of wages but of dictation. The only body 
 
 of hands who have gone in are Messrs. H and I 's, and 
 
 they have resumed work at the prices offered before the strike. 
 
 " To support the strike, contributions are levied on the operatives 
 of various towns in East Lancashire, and the following list furnishes 
 the names of those towns and the amounts received from them in aid 
 of the strike : — 
 
 "23ed Mat, 1859. 
 " Blackburn , 
 
 Darwen 
 
 Preston 
 
 Accrington . 
 
 Church 
 
 Padiham and Sabden 
 
 Harwood 
 
 Clitheroe 
 
 Bolton 
 
 £76 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 
 
 37 
 
 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 
 
 oi 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 1 
 
 lOJ 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 oi 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 
t46 
 
 Account 
 
 ftke 
 
 
 
 
 "Enfield 
 
 .£13 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chorley 
 Burnley 
 Leigh . 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tyldesley . 
 Barrowford . 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 4 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ha^ilingden . 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 Eamsbottom 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Colue . 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 15 
 
 lU 
 
 " Cash in hand 
 
 incom 
 
 
 62 
 
 7 
 
 9i 
 
 " Thus giving a total 
 
 e of £425 
 
 9 
 
 OJ for one week 
 
 "And we may add that these contributions are increasing in 
 amount. 
 
 " In order to enable the masters to resist the dictation of this 
 society, or any other society of operatives, it is now proposed to 
 establish an Association of Masters to be called ' The Lancashire 
 Master Spinners and Manufacturers' Defence Society;' the object of 
 which shall be to aiford pecuniary assistance to any member who 
 may be assailed by the above, or any other society of operatives. 
 Already the following towns have agreed to support the Padiham 
 masters: — Burnley, Preston, Clitheroe, Harwood, Colne, Sabden, 
 and Maxsden ; and we trust that the masters in your town are willing 
 to unite and make common cause for the protection of the trade 
 under the above circumstances. 
 
 " We are, yours obediently, 
 
 " SuTCLiFFE and Handsley, 
 " Secretaries on behalf of the Burnley Association. 
 
 V- BnKNLET, ith June, 1859." 
 
 I also insert, at some risk of repetition, the following letter ema- 
 nating from the same Association, which appeared in the Times, at 
 a still later date, for the sake of introducing the reply to it, put 
 forth by the Weavers' Association: — 
 
 " To the Editor of the Times. 
 
 " Sir, — If it will afford consolation to Messrs. Trollope and Son, 
 we can assure them they are not by any means peculiar in their 
 present position with their hands. 
 
 " The cotton manufacturers of the village of Padiham, about three 
 miles from Burnley, have withstood the strike of their weavers, 
 members of the East Lancashire Weavers' Association, for twenty- 
 one weeks; and at the present moment there is no more appearance 
 of a settlement than within a week of its commencement, and 
 upwards of 2000 looms are still standing. 
 
 " The attitude assumed, and the claims made by these organized 
 unions of operatives, are of such a character as to require the most 
 serious attention of the public ; for, while former strikes in 
 
Weavers' Strike at Fadiham. 447 
 
 this district have been restricted to the question of wages, the 
 operatives through these unions now seek to impose on the masters 
 terms as to the management of tlieir mills and trade of the most 
 tyrannical character; and it is really becoming a question whether 
 the important trade of this district can be carried on. 
 
 " As this subject is now engrossing much attention, perhaps you 
 would kindly permit us to explain the state of things existing here, 
 unparalleled, we venture to say, on any former occasion. 
 
 " The above Association, but recently established, now numbers 
 more than 22,000 members, all of whom contribute to one common 
 fund. It has its head executive, and also its local executives, and a 
 permanently engaged and paid secretary, and by unity of action and 
 the concentration of its power on individuals, seeks to crush by 
 brute force the capital and intelligence of East Lancashire. 
 
 " The objects of the association, as openly avowed by its paid 
 advocates, are : — 
 
 " 1. Irrespective of any difference in the quality of machinery, 
 materials, or labour, and without reference to the disadvantages of 
 locality, or the cost of production, to enforce the payment throughout 
 East Lancashire of one uniform rate of wage, or, as they term it, 
 ' The Standard List.' 
 
 " 2. To establish the right of their secretary to enter any mill at 
 his pleasure, to examine the machinery; and 
 
 " 3. To annul the right of master and man to settle or arrange 
 any dispute, substituting the secretary as the only medium of com- 
 munication, and who shall have the power to determine whether the 
 hands remain at work or strike. 
 
 " To carry these objects into effect, it was arranged to attack the 
 Padiham masters first, as they were thought the weakest, and 
 accordingly a number of the unionists made claims in accordance 
 with the foregoing objects. The masters, to avoid the evils invari- 
 ably attendant on strikes, offered advances, in some cases more than 
 the list, in others slightly under, the average being barely one 
 farthing per piece below, and involving at the utmost 2d. to Zd. out of 
 a wage of I6s. to \Ss. a week; they, however, steadfastly refused to 
 recognise either the Union or its secretary, and on this account the 
 hands struck work on the I7th of March last, the willing strikers 
 forcing the unwilling to do the same. 
 
 " The full machinery of the Union was then put in operation, and 
 forced contributions have since, from week to week, been levied on 
 the operatives in adjacent towns, to the extent of about £400 a week; 
 this sum is nearly all absorbed by the payment of Is. a week to each 
 weaver — of some £23 among 116 distressed families, while the 
 collectors, paid advocates, and executives appropriate to themselves 
 nearly £50 a week. 
 
 " If any persons, no matter how substantial the reason, refuse to 
 pay the levy, they are denounced in opprobrious terms in the printed 
 balance-sheet. If a shopkeeper declines to contribute, exclusive 
 dealing is resorted to. If a newspaper ventures to hint at the rash- 
 
448 Account of the 
 
 ness of the leaders of this strike, the paper is at once condemned, 
 and the people told not to read it. If a hand starving on 7s. a week 
 ventures to return to work, he is surrounded by a dense mob, and 
 forced to remain idle. If any doubt the honesty of the executive, 
 and claim to have it shown how the £5000 to £6000 they have 
 received has been expended, they are denounced as tools of the 
 master; and the public mind, now vitiated and demoralized, is daily 
 fed by these paid advocates (some of them men of worthless 
 character) with the most gross and wicked falsehoods. 
 
 " Against this united attack, the Padiham masters could not have 
 made head; they must have succumbed; but fortunately the masters 
 of other towns, seeing the danger was common to all, came to their 
 assistance, and are determined to stand by them until the danger is 
 past. 
 
 " It is evident to all who are watching the leaders of this strike, 
 that their efforts are being directed more to the subjugation of the 
 master than to an advance of wages for the hands; they know that 
 the latter will speedily follow the former; and the masters are now, 
 notwithstanding the many jealousies existing among them, becoming 
 alive to the necessity of a general combination for the purposes 
 of defence. 
 
 " This strike is only in its infancy; we shall see it spread gradually, 
 but surely, throughout the whole of this county, and a struggle of a 
 fearful character between capital and labour is imminent, unless the 
 trade here, following the example set them in London, will unite and 
 say, — ' Trades' unions, whether among spinners or weavers, for an 
 illegitimate interference with the value of labour and the manage- 
 ment of trade, shall not exist, and until they are abandoned we will 
 close our works.' 
 
 " We are. Sir, your obedient servants, 
 
 " The CoMinTTEE of the Lancashiee Master 
 Spinnees AjfD Manupactueees' Defence 
 Society. 
 
 " BuKNLEY, August 8." 
 
 To this letter the following reply appeared : — 
 " To the Editor of the Times. 
 
 " SiE, — A letter having appeared in the Times on the Padiham 
 strike, which has emanated from the Committee of the Master 
 Spinners and Manufacturers' Defence Society, I feel myself called 
 upon to give a true history of the details of the present strike, of 
 its origin and cause, and the real position it now holds. Previous 
 to doing this, I will just take a glance at a few remarks made by the 
 writer of the said article, which may tend to show to the public the 
 objects the ivriter had in view. 
 
 " It is said that the present strike is ' not one of wages, but of 
 dictation ; that the operatives seek to impose on the masters terms 
 as to the management of their mills and trade of the most tyrannical 
 character ; also to establish the right of their paid secretary to enter 
 
Weavers' Strike atPadiham. 449 
 
 any mill at his pleasure, to examine machinery, and say what shall 
 be done by the master and hands in his employ.' These and other 
 assertions are made, which, if not corrected, must have a tendency 
 to lead the public mind astray. The remarks which I am about to 
 make shall be grounded upon facts, and God forbid that I should in 
 the least even attempt to exaggerate or misconstrue one single 
 fact, either for the operatives or against them. 
 
 " Previous to any dissatisfaction among the weavers which led to 
 this strike, they were not joined with any trades' union, they had 
 no dealings, part, or lot, with any paid secretary. The whole of 
 the masters were paying nearly one uniform rate of wages. At that 
 
 time, Messrs. and Brothers {the oldest established firm 
 
 in the town) made a reduction of \d. "per cut, which in some 
 instances was more than 10 per cent. A few weeks after, another 
 firm followed the example. The other masters then began to ex- 
 press that they would be compelled to do the same, or they could 
 not compete with them in the same market. It was then that the 
 operatives of these two mills put their heads together to devise some 
 plan to arrest the progress of this serious evil. At that time the 
 Weavers' Association was in existence, but not under the same name 
 nor to the same extent as at present. It was this reduction that 
 caused the operatives of Padiham to form a Union. They got up 
 meetings, and got some from each mill to form a committee, who 
 agreed to agitate the town, and induce the operatives of Padiham to 
 join themselves as a branch of the Weavers' Association. With this 
 plan they succeeded, and nearly all the weavers, &c., in the town 
 became members of the Union. The operatives then waited upon 
 their employers, time after time, and requested them not to carry 
 out this reduction. Failing in this, they then solicited them to 
 reduce only one halfpenny instead of a penny per cut, but this 
 request the employers sternly refused to listen to. The committee 
 of the Amalgamated Weavers' Association then interfered, and 
 kindly solicited the employers to comply with the request of their 
 workpeople, and thus avoid the evils of a strike. But all was of no 
 avail, and the members of the Union at once declared that as Padi- 
 ham prices generally were far below the standard list of Blackburn, 
 Accrington, Darwen, and surrounding towns, a general appeal 
 should be made to the masters by the general secretary of the Asso- 
 ciation, and request them to pay according to the said list. This 
 was done, and the result was that at some of the mills he was 
 threatened to be thrown into the river ; at others they said they 
 would sooner break up their looms for old iron than give one far- 
 thing of an advance. 
 
 " Had the masters at that time been desirous of amicably settling 
 the grievance,, it might have been done without so much quibbling ; 
 but, alas ! they were stupid, and at a meeting of their own deter- 
 mined not to comply with the reasonable request of their operatives, 
 believing at the time that the Union was too weak to support them 
 in case of a strike. Again the employers were waited upon, and all 
 
450 Account of the 
 
 peaceable means tried that could possibly be imagined, but proved 
 fruitless. The operatives were then ordered to tender in their 
 notices to their respective employers, who met them with scorn and 
 contempt, until within thi-ee days of their expiration. Then they 
 began to see the folly of their conduct, and that a strike would 
 evidently be the result. They then agreed to give an advance, 
 and pay one uniform rate of wages — viz., 2J per cent, below the 
 standard list, and called a meeting of the operatives in the Assembly 
 Room, Padiham, and made known their intentions, as you will find 
 from the Blackburn Weekly Times for March the 19th. This offer the 
 operatives rejected, and why? Because they were irritated by the 
 indignant and contemptible treatment they had previously received. 
 On former occasions, when they had no Union to protect them, they 
 would have gladly accepted such an offer, but now they were con- 
 nected with the Union, and its members had promised their support 
 until they obtained the list prices. Under these circumstances, they 
 struck work, and have now been out twenty-one weeks, and the 
 masters are still holding out the same oifer as they made at first. 
 They say they have not altered their position. How, then, can they 
 have the audacity to assert that this strike does not involve a ques- 
 tion of wages, but one of dictation ? There is no dictation connected 
 with it. Let them give the standard list prices, and the strike is at 
 an end. They say ' The operatives seek to enforce a claim that 
 their paid secretary shall enter any mill he chooses, and shall dic- 
 tate to the masters what shall be done and what must not be done,' 
 and ' the operatives have not the power to settle.' I emphatically 
 declare these statements to be false. I do not want to enter their 
 mills, and will not go near them, unless requested by the masters. 
 We did not attack the Padiham masters because they were thought the 
 weakest, but because of their uncalled-for reduction and their low 
 prices. It was this that awakened the operatives of Padiham to a 
 sense of their duty and their interests, and caused them to unite 
 in one strong body to resist the imposing and unprincijjled hand of 
 their employers. 
 
 " In conclusion, I say, our claims are no more than the Blackburn 
 standard prices, as paid in the surrounding towns. Let these prices 
 be given, and the strike is ended, and Padiham's sons and daughters 
 of toil Avill again be thriving and prosperous. Hoping that this is 
 not far distant, 
 
 " I am. Sir, yours respectfully, 
 
 "Abraham Pindee, 
 '■ Secretary to the East Lancashire Association. 
 
 " Dakwen, August 14." 
 
 The Padiham dispute, though really depending upon the simple 
 matter I have stated, was somewhat complicated by the introduction 
 of other grievances. One of these was the irregularity of the emery 
 beams, owing to their being worn ; one of the demands of the men 
 when out on strike being that the emery beams should all bo 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 451 
 
 adjusted to one size before they would return to their work. In 
 reply to this, the masters offered to have them rectified by degrees — 
 a few at a time — but that would not satisfy the operatives. 
 
 Another grievance was the practice of making the weavers pay 
 for what is called gold bobbin, which is used for heading the pieces 
 of cloth. lu order to ensure that this expensive material is not 
 wasted, it is the practice of the employer, in other places as well as 
 in Padiham, to make the weaver pay for it, but to allow him so 
 much per piece extra in return. A gold bobbin costs 3>ld., and if 
 fairly used would head seven pieces of cloth, and the allowance of 
 a halfpenny extra was made for the cloth so headed. This was, 
 however, considered a piece of tyranny ; and I find, at a meeting of 
 weavers at Accrington, held in support of the strike, on the 30th of 
 March, that the proposal was put, at the instance of a weaver, that 
 the gold bobbin question should not be considered a part of the dis- 
 pute, but was negatived by a large majority.* I find in another 
 place the accusation that the weavers were forced to pay for the 
 gold bobbin in advance, which was certainly unnecessary; but the 
 masters, or those of them who followed such a practice, appear to 
 have ofiered to make an alteration in that respect. 
 
 It would occupy too much space, and would throw little addi- 
 tional light on the subject, to attempt to recount all the incidents 
 that occurred during the six months' duration of the strike. There 
 were none that made any material change in the position of the con- 
 tending parties. 
 
 The weavers continued to be supported by the Union, who had 
 at their disposal funds rather on the increase than otherwise; the 
 collection the week before the conclusion of the strike being the 
 largest weekly collection during the whole period. 
 
 The town of Padiham was plentifully posted with placards 
 emanating from the contending parties, and the newspapers circu- 
 lated in the manufacturing districts contained weekly columns 
 devoted to accounts of the meetings of delegates, and a weekly 
 statement of receipts and expenses, called a balance-sheet, was pub- 
 lished by the executive committee. 
 
 A great number of the handbills, and much of the discussion in 
 the newspapers and at meetings, turned upon the circumstance, that 
 
 one of the employers, Mr. H , who was originally a party to the 
 
 dispute, had settled with his men, who had accepted his list of 
 
 prices. It does not appear that Mr. H , any more than the 
 
 other employeris, submitted to have his machinery inspected by the 
 secretary of the Union ; but his looms were measured by his own 
 hands, and the measurements taken to the secretary of the weavers, 
 who found them equal to the Blackburn standard list. I am 
 informed that much of the doubt that rested on the result of the 
 comparison of the prices offered by the Padiham masters with 
 those in the Blackburn list, arose from the looms used in Padiham 
 
 * See Blackburn Weekly Times, April 2, 1859. 
 
 G Q 
 
452 Account of- the 
 
 being of intermediate sizes, which, according to the directions 
 appended to the Blackburn list, entitled them to an allowance, and 
 
 that Mr. H , or some person in his employment, was acute 
 
 enough to see and avail himself of this advantage, which the other 
 masters were not. I am inclined to attach some weight to this 
 explanation, from the circumstance that otherwise it is impossible 
 to account for the prices offered by the masters, as being 2J per 
 cent, below the list, being ultimately found to be substantially equal 
 to it. It certainly appears very strange that the employers should 
 be themselves unable to calculate their own prices with reference to 
 the standard list, but such certainly seems to have been the case. 
 In a placard put forth by the operatives' association, dated the 
 
 17th of March, I find this statement with reference to Mr. II 's 
 
 hands : — 
 
 ..." We beg to say, injustice to ourselves and the public gene- 
 rally, that the dispute on the wages question between Mr. H and 
 
 his hands has been amicably settled between themselves, to the satis- 
 faction of all concerned ; and if any master or masters are prejaared 
 to make the same offer as he has done, namely, to pay equal to the 
 Blackburn standard list, and to adjusttheir emery beams to one certain 
 point, they have the same privilege, with this understanding, that as 
 there are certain grievances, which they conside-r as such to be unjust, 
 namely, being compelled to pay for picking the healds, ha^-iug to 
 pay for gold bobbins, and other things which are best known be- 
 tween the hands and the masters themselves ; and if the masters are 
 prepared to adjust these differences to the satisfaction of their hands, 
 they are quite at liberty to do so with their own hands at the 
 earliest opportunity. 
 
 " I remain yours, 
 " On behalf of the Padiham Weavers' Association, 
 
 " Abeahabi Pindek." 
 
 In reply to this, the employers stated in another placard : — 
 
 " We beg to say that we all agreed to pay one price, Mr. 11 
 
 included, and posted notices in our respective mills to that effect on 
 Tuesday last; all these prices were submitted to each othei-, the 
 calculations being based on a given size of emery beam, in order that 
 all might arrive at one uniform offer. 
 
 " By what process of reasoning the conclusion is arrived at that 
 
 Mr. H 's prices are equal to the Blackburn standard list, and 
 
 ours are not, we are utterly at a loss to ascertain. 
 
 " Eespecting the grievances spoken of in the placard, viz., picking 
 healds and gold bobbins : this is the first time we have had any inti- 
 mation that these were grievances. As to the picking of healds, this 
 is no benefit to the master at all, but saves the weavers the trouble 
 of picking them, and if they prefer doing the work themselves to 
 paying some other person, they are at liberty to do so. 
 
 " With respect to the next grievance, it would appear from the 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 453 
 
 placard issued, that the operatives had to pay for the gold bobbins, 
 without receiving an equivalent, but such is not the fact. When 
 we make a cloth headed with gold, we pay the weavers as much 
 extra per piece as it costs them in gold ; indeed, in some instances, 
 it is a saving to the operative, encourages habits of economy, re- 
 moves much unpleasantness, and, on the whole, gives general 
 satisfaction." 
 
 It is clear that, after these publications, the struggle could only 
 
 have continued by both parties being to blame. What Mr. H 
 
 could do without sacrifice of dignity or independence, the other 
 employers might have done too, if they had been actuated by the 
 same spirit of conciliation ; and on the other hand, if the managers 
 of the Union had had any sincere desire to terminate the struggle, 
 they could not fail to have been put upon inquiries, the result of 
 which would have been the same as those instituted by other parties 
 six months afterwards, namely, to show that the prices offered were 
 substantially equal to the Blackburn list. 
 
 It is true, as I am informed, that the masters did, at a later period,, 
 offer to allow their beams to be measured by a disinterested third 
 party, but now would have been the time to have made that offer 
 before the breach was widened ; and the operatives, on their side, 
 might have made a similar suggestion; or if there were none among 
 the hands of each mill who were competent to the task, they might 
 have suggested that they should be allowed to take assistants ; but 
 unfortunately, it took six months to bring both parties to this simple 
 common-sense expedient for getting out of the difficulty they had got 
 into. Doubtless, some part of this is to be explained by the want of 
 a personal good understanding between the masters and their hands, 
 
 a particular in which. Mr. H had, doubtless, some advantage 
 
 over his neighbours. 
 
 Similar views to those I have just expressed were, apparently, 
 held by persons in Padiham whose position enabled them to see, and 
 whose good sense induced them to deplore, what was going on ; 
 which led to five respectable tradesmen in the town forming them- 
 selves into a committee of conciliation. Two of these gentlemen I 
 have been in personal communication with, and can testify to their 
 having the qualifications of a technical knowledge, good judgment, 
 and disinterestedness, to fit them for dealing satisfactorily with the 
 dispute, if the parties in difference had been wise enough to accept 
 of their mediation. 
 
 One of these gentlemen has furnished me with the following 
 statement of what was done by this committee : — 
 
 " We visited one firm, measured the beams, counted the wheels, 
 and wrought out some of the sorts ; and taking the emery beams at 
 the measurement as we found them, the prices came out very nearly; 
 
 * I presume this refers to the committee and secretary of the Padiham 
 district. ^^2 
 
454 Account of the 
 
 but the reason we could not effect a settlement, was, we found that the 
 committee and secretary of the operatives* could do nothing but 
 what was sanctioned by the executive, and urged as ii I'eason that 
 the operatives on strike were receiving 7«. per week each on the 
 understanding that they would adhere to the decision of the execu- 
 tive ; and on the other hand, the masters were bound by the rules 
 of their association to make arrangements Avith neither the execu- 
 tive, the committee, nor any intermediate party, but solely with their 
 own hands. The committee found also that a great deal of jealousy 
 existed, both on the part of the operatives and the masters, and that 
 ■the mediation committee were watched very narrowly, afraid of any 
 leaning towards the one side more than the other. From these cir- 
 cumstances, the mediation committee could do no good, and gave up 
 their task in despair." 
 
 From the other of these gentlemen I learn that when they called 
 a meeting of the operatives lately working for the master whose 
 looms they had measured, one of the operatives' committee, not 
 belonging to that mill, entered the room, and called foi' a show of 
 hands of those who were prepared " to support the executive" 
 when all the hands were held up ; and he then called upon those 
 who meant to support the Executive to follow him, and, leaving the 
 room, was followed by the whole meeting. In this case, therefore, 
 as the master had allowed his looms to be examined, the attempt 
 at mediation seems to have failed from the fault of the opera- 
 tives. 
 
 Another of the mediation committee, whom I have not per- 
 sonally seen, gives the history of an attempt to settle the strike at 
 another of the mills, in a placard signed with his own name, for the 
 failure of which the masters in question certainly seem to be respon- 
 sible, as the following extract will show. 
 
 " I went to the executive to inquire into the matter, and I found, 
 on questioning the tirst deputation in the presence of the executive, 
 that the Grove masters had promised to make all their other looms 
 equal to Graham's looms, and the hands were satisfied with the 
 prices offered for the sorts woven on those looms, but that the 
 masters would not make a settlement with any committee ; so the 
 executive said they did not care for that, if they would only give 
 the prices, — that was all that was wanted ; so they desired the 
 Grove weavers to have a shop meeting, and send a deputation from 
 themselves to see if they would give the price which the other 
 deputation had said was offered. Now does this look like dictation 
 to the masters ? 
 
 " At a meeting of the Grove weavers at the Dun Horse Inn, on 
 Monday forenoon, a deputation was elected from among themselves, 
 and I stated to that meeting that another shopkeeper and myself 
 had been to the Grove, to see if they could receive a deputation of 
 their own hands, and make a settlement with them ; and I told the 
 weavers that the reason we had been before them was because we 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 455 
 
 had heard that two of the manufacturers had said that they could 
 not receive a deputation nor make a settlement ; if they did, they 
 would be breaking the bond, for they were all in one bond not 
 to settle with any deputation, but to settle with their hands indi- 
 vidually ; and one of the manufacturers said, that if the Grove 
 masters broke the bond, he would send for Pinder on to his own 
 premises, and settle with him at once. Now I think I can prove 
 this statement. 
 
 " When Thomas H and myself went to the Grove mas- 
 ters they said they were willing to receive a deputation and hear 
 what they had to say, but they should want time for consideration 
 before they gave a decisive answer. I said they had better ex- 
 change notes with the weavers, so that both sides might be satisfied, 
 but they made no reply. I told him that the hands were satisfied 
 with the prices on Graham's looms, and the difference was with the 
 other looms. The masters said the difference was with the emery 
 beams, and they had got wheels to hiake them equal. 
 
 " During the meeting held at the Dun Horse, some of the com- 
 mittee came in, and the weavers ordered them out, that the masters 
 could not say that the committee had anything to do with the meet- 
 ing ; and four of their number were elected to go to the masters, 
 and see if they were prepared to make their other looms equal to 
 Graham's looms, and if they would give them a list of what they 
 would pay for a list of what the hands wanted, but the masters 
 refused to do either. So I understand from the deputation. Now 
 does this look like dictation? Does it not look more like. trying the 
 patience of the hands ? or else what was said about the bond was 
 true." 
 
 The placard, after some exhortations to the masters, concludes by 
 referring to the jealousy with which the mediation committee were 
 regarded by the weavers' committee, and concludes thus : — 
 
 " And allow me further to say, that many of your own class think 
 that the committee have been too indifferent about the termination 
 of this strike, and that there ought to be another election of com- 
 mitteemen." 
 
 I have made inquiry from one of the gentlemen before referred 
 to as my informants in this matter (he being a member of the Burn- 
 ley Masters' Association), whether there was any such bond or other 
 engagement by the Padiham masters as was referred to in this 
 placard, and he has returned the following reply : — - 
 
 " The allegation of a bond was utterly untrue, neither was there 
 any written or verbal obligation of any kind existing beyond this : — 
 The Burnley masters, whilst refusing to support the Padiham mas- 
 ters, or even to entertain a wage question, pledged themselves by 
 written resolutions to support them against the dictation of the 
 operatives' executive and the combination formed at Blackburn 
 and other places. 
 
 " If the dispute had been confined to the Padiham masters on the 
 one hand and their operatives on the other, we should never have 
 
456 Account of the 
 
 interfered ; but wlien we read tlio demands of the executive, and 
 were aware of the combinatiou — a dozen towns — to crush the mas- 
 ters, we came forward in support. 
 
 " It is almost daily said, in connexion with the present strike at 
 Colue, that the masters are united by bond, but this statement is 
 equally untrue. At Colne as well as Padiham no restriction exists, 
 and both sets of masters were at full liberty to make any contract 
 they pleased with their hands, either by way of deputations or indi- 
 vidually ; any proposition restrictive of the fuUest liberty on the 
 part of the masters would have been scouted. The unanimity of the 
 masters and their action arises solely from a sense of common danger." 
 
 The jealousy entertained by the operatives of the mediators, which 
 is referred to in the foregoing placard, also peeps out at their public 
 meetings. 
 
 At a meeting at Padiham, on the 29th of March, Mr. Maugham, 
 one of the paid advocates of the weavers' association, is reported* 
 to have said : — 
 
 '• There had been that day a meeting of the hands connected with 
 
 the mill of Messrs. H and I — ■ — . The hands had met through 
 
 two parties, though not apjsointed by the masters — he distrusted the 
 step, but hoped good would result. These two parties were not 
 ■members of their Association, therefore he considered it a doubt upon 
 their honesty. If they ivere not for them tliey must be against them. 
 If these parties would pay to the Union, and become a part of them, 
 they would have more confidence in their actions ; respect might be 
 shown them. And though their intentions might be pure, they were, 
 as he said, not without suspicion. These parties had not — neither 
 in the Harwood struggle nor in the present — shown any disposition 
 to aid them with their purse ; and against such parties he must 
 caution them." 
 
 I have stated that there were four weaving concerns in Padiham, 
 whose hands remained at work during the struggle. The circum- 
 stances relating to one of them have been stated ; two of the others 
 were weaving fine goods, and were practically not affected by the 
 dispute, and the fourth conceded the point in dispute, by allowing the 
 secretary to measure his beams. 
 
 A few hands were also at work in each miU during the whole of 
 the strike ; these were chiefly families of overlookers, or persons 
 having some relationship or connexion with the masters. The num- 
 ber of these persons might have been greater but for the interference 
 of the operatives on strike, who, as is usually the case, did all they 
 could to prevent others from accepting the wages which they had 
 thought proper to refuse. The means resorted to for this object 
 were — waiting for thG obnoxious weaver at the outside of the mill, 
 and then accompanying him home with a large crowd, hooting and 
 occasionally, no doubt, hustling him. There was an assault charged 
 against one of the men out, arising out of one of these cases;; but 
 
 *Blackhum Weekly Times, April 2nd, 1859. 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 457 
 
 on investigation before the magistrates, when the party eharge'd was 
 defended at the expense of the Union, the case was dismissed. After 
 this occasion an extra force of police was put on, and no further dis- 
 turbance of note occurred. There were also some attempts to 
 exercise tyranny over the shopkeepers who declined to contribute to 
 the support of the turn-outs, by resorting to exclusive dealing — col- 
 lecting about the shop of the obnoxious tradesman, to warn operatives 
 not to deal with him. This system of attempted coercion of those 
 who declined to contribute to the support of the strike, was carried 
 out more systematically in the weekly balance-sheets, where the col- 
 lections from each mill and from the public were reported under the 
 heads of the different manufacturing towns in the district. In these 
 sheets there are repeatedly found such entries as the following : — 
 
 " John Webster, Dennis Haworth, and John Simpson, won't pay — 
 shame ! " 
 
 "Ash worth Cloggon says, 'You have come too soon' — shame!" 
 
 "Blackburn's shame on No. 100, 192, and 194." 
 
 These numbers are the numbers of the looms, which to those in 
 the same mill is equivalent to giving the names. 
 
 " Padiham : George Hoyle's wife won't pay — shame ! " 
 
 "Peel Hall, Preston : I am sorry to say that there is a man and 
 his wife driving seven looms without a tenter, and will not pay. 
 I hope Punch will visit them next week. No. 79 to 85." 
 
 " Shame on No. 108. Little Dumpy, a needleworker from Lon- 
 don, won't pay ! No. 104." 
 
 "Shame on Shot family; Shot lives next door but one to the 
 Factory G-ate. That great hobbling lad on 196 won't pay — shame ! 
 Nan o' Suiting Nan's won't pay — shame!" 
 
 "If Bill o' Pett's don't give over persuading weavers not to pay. 
 Punch will deprive him of his top lip." 
 
 "Mother and daughter say they will not jjay to Padiham hands; 
 but if they don't, we certainly will give them a double drill." 
 
 The above are all quoted from two balance-sheets, the 2nd and 3rd, 
 and are not all the instances of a similar kind in those two sheets. 
 
 Other remarks appear to threaten sure slander or abuse, in case 
 of refusal to pay, as for instance, 
 
 "If that weaver in No. 25 does not pay up next week. Punch will 
 say something about her that she will not like." 
 
 " If Martha Flitcroft, and one or two more, won't pay, Punch will 
 tell something about them." 
 
 Others are of a more good humoured character, as: 
 
 " We should be very much obliged to the single young women of 
 this mill, if they would pay their contributions more freely, and we 
 will find them sweethearts." 
 
 "John o' Eldin's wears sideboards all week, takes Manchester 
 JExaminer and T«?»e«,but won't pay to Padiham." 
 
 The conclusion of the strike was ultimately brought about by the 
 intervention, apparently unsolicited by either of the parties to the 
 dispute, of the master manufacturers of Blackburn, who held a 
 
458 Account of the 
 
 meeting on the lOtli of August, and appointed a deputation to go 
 over to Padiham to investigate the question between the Padiham 
 masters and their workpeople. The proceedings of this deputation 
 and the result of their inquiry will sufficiently appear from the 
 Eeport, which was as follows: — 
 
 " To the Cotton- Spinners, SfC, of Blackburn, and the 
 Neighbourhood. 
 
 "Eeport of the Committee appointed at a meeting of the Cotton- 
 Spinners and Manufacturers of Blackburn and surrounding districts, 
 to investigate the questions in dispute between the Padiham masters 
 and their workpeople. 
 
 "Your committee, appointed at the meeting held by your body on 
 Wednesday last, August 9, have, in compliance with your request, 
 visited Padiham to investigate the prices offered by the musters to 
 their operatives. 
 
 " Your committee thankfully acknowledge that the different mas- 
 ters afforded every facility to ascertain the basis for calculating the 
 rates to be paid for different looms, and while engaged in this inves- 
 tigation at one of the mills your committee received a letter request- 
 ing an interview. The letter was as follows: — 
 
 " ' Bridge Inn, Padiham, Avg. 15. 
 
 " ' G-ENTLEMEN, — Will you have the kindness to admit of a deputa- 
 tion of the operatives to have an interview with you to lay down the 
 justice of their claims in this struggle? 
 
 "'Youi's respectfully, on behalf of the operatives on strike, 
 
 " ' Abraham Pindee, Secretary. 
 
 "'P.S. An answer, per bearer, to the above is requested. 
 
 "'Yours, &c. 
 
 " ' To THE Committee of Inquiry into the cause op the Padiham Strike.' 
 
 " To which the following reply was sent: — 
 
 " ' SiEs, — We are come here simply to ascertain if the wages offered 
 by the Padiham masters to their weavers are equivalent to the Black- 
 burn standard list. If your committee would like to meet us at the 
 Starkie's Arms, at three o'clock, we shall be happy to talk with any 
 four of you. 
 
 " 'Yours truly (for the committee), 
 
 "'T. Ceooke Ainsworth.' 
 
 "At the interview with the committee of operatives we first 
 informed them we were holding a private meeting, in which every 
 individual would only give his own sentiments, and Ave also stated 
 distinctly our object. 
 
 "Your committee had a friendly discussion, and inquired from the 
 operatives if they desired the examination of any particular mill, 
 and such as were named to us by them we visited. 
 
 "Your committee, after a patient examination, and having mea- 
 sured exactly the emery beams and counted the wheels, for which 
 purpose every facility was kindly conceded by the Padiham masters, 
 have arrived at various dividends, which we subjoin in Appendix A, 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 459 
 
 and the data on which they were obtained we insert in the Appendix, 
 for comparison, the dividend stated by the masters, and also that of 
 the committee, and we find the difference to be more imaginary than 
 real. 
 
 " We also insert a list of sorts and prices offered to be paid, with 
 our calculations according to the Blackburn standard list. (See in 
 Appendix B.) 
 
 " Taken as a whole, the prices offered by the Padiham masters, 
 and admitted by the operatives' committee, are, when tested by the 
 standard list, found fully equal to it. 
 
 "Your committee find many discrepancies which appear to arise 
 solely from the different dividends, rendering it impossible to give 
 precisely the same results for different makes of looms, and not from 
 any wish to alter the basis of calculation. 
 
 "Your committee may say it appeared to them (and they cannot 
 withhold the expression of their opinion) that there was no necessity 
 for the strike, and that the masters' offer is one in all respects which 
 the operatives ought to acquiesce in, and at once to accept. 
 
 "We must give all credit to the operatives' committee for their 
 civil, courteous, and conciliatory bearing at our interview. 
 
 "Your committee pointed out to them and read the second and 
 third clauses in the letter in the Times from the Association: — 2. 
 'To establish the right of their secretary to enter any mill at his 
 pleasure to examine the machinery;' and 3. 'To annul the right of 
 master and man to settle or arrange any dispute, substituting the 
 secretary as the only medium of communication, and who shall have 
 the power to determine whether the hands remain at work or strike;' 
 when they positively stated they did not insist on them, and wrote 
 us subsequently as follows: — 
 
 " ' Padiham, Aug. 16. 
 
 "Gentlemen, — This is to certify that the Padiham strike is purely 
 a wages' question, as I have never asked for admission into any mill 
 on any pretence whatever connected Tvith this strike. Let them pay 
 the Blackburn list prices and the strike is at an end. 
 
 '"Yours respectfully, 
 "'Abraham Pindee, Secretary.' 
 
 "Your committee recommended both the employers and operatives 
 to adopt a conciliatory and generous spirit, and also advised the 
 operatives' committee to adopt the masters' terms, leaving minor 
 questions to the masters, and admitting the principle that the dis- 
 putes between masters and those employed by them should be nego- 
 tiated between themselves. 
 
 "Your committee are aware the above discussion was beyond their 
 province, but think it proper to lay before your body the feeling and 
 the sentiments which their visit elicited. 
 
 " Your conunittee may say that a little asperity of feeling has re- 
 tarded the settlement of the wage question, and feel that, from the 
 disposition shown on both sides, a satisfactory arrangement of this 
 
460 
 
 Account of the 
 
 great and important question may, by a, little consideration and reflec- 
 tion, be accomplished, and the Padiham strike be at an end. 
 
 " Your committee would be glad to learn that, in being the medium 
 of ascertaining the feeling existing, they may have contributed in any 
 way to terminate this unhappy dispute, and will rejoice if the opera- 
 tives of Padiham and their masters may be brought together to follow 
 their industrious career and calling. 
 
 " Your committee, in taking leave of this painful subject, would 
 express the hope that in future every expedient will be exhausted, 
 and cordial efforts between employers and operatives will be made, 
 before a settlement is despaired of, or a strike, which should be a last 
 resort, if ever, attempted. 
 
 " By order of the Commitee, 
 
 " T. Ceookee Ainswoeth, Secretary. 
 " Blackbubn, A.ufj. 17." 
 
 " APPENDIX A. 
 
 Loom-malter's Name. 
 
 „ 
 
 
 
 
 
 " s 
 
 ^ o 
 
 
 a ^ 1 a 
 
 'z S 
 
 hs 
 
 5^ 
 
 s 
 
 H% 
 
 '^3 
 
 Graham and Shepliard 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Wilkinson's 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Cooper and Co 
 
 Dodgson and Whittaker 
 
 Davidson and Price 
 
 "The looms of same makers have 
 
 14| 
 144 
 16 
 16 
 
 16 
 15 
 
 5U 
 
 90 
 
 90 
 
 15 
 16 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 Z 
 
 - 
 
 diiferent sizes of beams, 
 
 necessary to have different dividends for different mills. 
 
 439| 436 437 
 442 442 442 
 428| 428| 428 
 429, 428] 428 
 4571 456 450 
 457 456, 456 
 4281 4281 428 
 rendering it 
 
 'APPENDIX B. 
 
 Maker's Loom. 
 
 On Wilkinson's looms 
 
 On Graham and Co.'s, 14f in. beams... 
 
 On do. 14i in. beams 
 
 On do. do 
 
 On do. 14| in. beams 
 
 On Wilkinson's looms 
 
 Ondo. do 
 
 On Graham and Oo.'s 14f in. beams ... 
 
 Ondo. do 
 
 On Wilkinson's looms 
 
 Ondo. do 
 
 On Graham arid Co.'s 14f in. beams ... 
 
 ^¥> 
 
 37* 
 
 37i 
 
 •37i 
 
 50 
 
 37i 
 
 BK^ 
 
 d. 
 10-97 
 10-88 
 11-27 
 14-26 
 8-93 
 8-96 
 8-25 
 8-234 
 7-308 
 7-46 
 11-18 
 11-08 
 
 
 d. 
 11 
 11 
 
 Hi 
 
 14i 
 ,9 
 9 
 
 8i 
 8i 
 7i 
 7i 
 
 11 
 
 11" 
 
 This report dealt a death-blow to the strike, emanating as it did 
 from persons emiaently qualified to judge of the matter in hand (the 
 question being as to the correspondence of the Padiham prices with 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 4fil 
 
 the list they themselves had prej^ared, and on which they were pay- 
 ing), and whose interest, if operating at all, would certainly not be 
 to enable the Padiham masters to, pay lower wages than themselves, 
 and bearing on the face of it, as it did, evidence of the careful, 
 thorough, and fair manner in which the inquiry had been conducted. 
 It was answered as follows, by the Operatives' Committee: — 
 
 " PADIHAM STRIKE. 
 
 "A report having appeared in the Manchester papers (^Examiner 
 and Guardian) on Friday, August 19th, '1859, stating the details of 
 a report drawn up by the Committee of Inquiry, appointed by the 
 Cotton-Spinners and Manufacturers' Association of Blackburn, to 
 inquire into the causes of the strike at Padiham. In that report 
 they have given the particulars of different sorts of looms, and have 
 attached their various dividends ; from those dividends they have 
 worked out the prices of a number of sorts of cloth, calling them 
 Blackburn standard list prices, with the prices offered by the Padi- 
 ham masters, and annexed in the Appendix B. It looks rather 
 strange how they could assert that the prices the masters were 
 offering were fully iip to the standard list, when on three sorts out 
 of five, on Wilkinson's Looms, they acknowledged to the operatives' 
 
 committee, that Mr. T would have to put a farthing on to 
 
 be equal to the list, and they said that he had promised to put a 35 
 teeth wheel on instead of a 34 on one sort, to make up this deficiency. 
 Now Mr. T — — denies this assertion altogether, and swears that 
 he never promised to alter anything. Besides, how could they say 
 those were the standard list prices, when they knew that they were 
 one per cent, below on every sort (with the exception of those 
 marked X) as you will see by the following copy: — 
 
 
 
 
 " geaham's looms, 
 
 439 
 
 DIVIDEND. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Committee 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Masters' 
 
 
 of Inquiry's 
 
 
 
 Sort. Loom. 
 
 Clotli. 
 
 Eeea. 
 
 Wheel. 
 
 .Length. offer. 
 
 Standard Price. 
 
 standard List Price. 
 
 1 40 
 
 39 
 
 55 
 
 30 
 
 374 llrf- 
 
 
 10-88<;. 
 
 w-md. 
 
 or lid. 
 
 2 „ 
 
 
 51 
 
 36 
 
 9rf. 
 
 
 8-93i. 
 
 9-02rf. 
 
 or 9!^. 
 
 3 „ 
 
 
 
 39 
 
 ■8id. 
 
 
 ;8-234rf. 
 
 8-32rf. 
 
 or 8frf. 
 
 10 „ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 44 
 
 lid. 
 
 
 7-308d. 
 
 7-S7d. 
 
 or 1:^d. 
 
 16 „ 
 
 1) 
 
 60 
 
 30 
 
 llrf. 
 
 
 U-08d. 
 
 n-20bd. 
 
 or llirf. 
 
 
 
 
 " WILKINSON'S LOOMS, 
 
 429 
 
 DIVIDEND. 
 
 
 
 i 40 
 
 39 
 
 55 
 
 29 
 
 37. ^ ii*;. 
 
 
 10-Q9d. 
 
 11-llrf. 
 
 or ll^rf. 
 
 2 „ 
 
 
 51 
 
 31 
 
 M. 
 
 
 9-22rf. 
 
 9-S2d. 
 
 or 9frf. 
 
 3 „ 
 
 ti 
 
 
 38 
 
 8id- 
 
 
 8-25d. 
 
 8-S6d. 
 
 or 8f(?. 
 
 10 „ 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 42 
 
 7id. 
 
 
 7-ied. 
 
 7-55^. 
 
 or 7id. 
 
 16 „ 
 
 -,) 
 
 60 
 
 29 
 
 Ud. 
 
 
 IVlSd. 
 
 11-325(Z. 
 
 or Hid. 
 
 "Judge for yourselves, as to whether we are right or wrong. If 
 we are wrong, let any one come forward to prove it, and we will 
 submit to be set rigiit. They have never proved us wrong in our 
 claims, our course is clear, it is the list prices we want, and nothing 
 less will suffice. 
 
 " Yours, on behalf of the Padiham Committee, 
 
 "Abeahabi Pinder, Secretary. 
 "Padiham, Aui/ust23rd, 1859." 
 
462 Account of the 
 
 As this document was issued in reply to the report of tlie com- 
 mittee of inquiry, I have inserted it here, but it is needless to point 
 out who was most likely to be able to work out a list of prices 
 according TO the Blackburn standard list, the Blackburn masters, or 
 the secretary of the Padiham Association. 
 
 The effect of this report was not immediately felt ; but on the 
 9th September a conference took place at Blackburn, between a 
 deputation from the executive committee of the East Lancashire 
 Association and a deputation from the Blackburn masters' com- 
 mittee, when it was decided (subject to the approval of the weavers' 
 executive committee) that as the committee's list was only an 
 exceedingly small fraction below the standard list of prices, the 
 operatives should resume work immediately, if the Padiham masters 
 would undertake to pay them according to the list approved by the 
 Blackburn masters' committee. 
 
 On the 14th September the deputation of the executive com- 
 mittee of the Weavers' Association waited upon the Padiham masters, 
 and asked permission to measure the " reed spaces" in their 
 respective mills. This application was refused, but the masters 
 offered to allow the measurement to be made by some of their own 
 operatives, accompanied by two disinterested persons. This offer 
 was accepted by the deputation; the measurement required was 
 made; and the deputation, having ascertained the result, returned to 
 Blackburn. On their arrival there they proceeded to the Odd 
 Fellows' Arms Hotel, King Street, where the full executive com- 
 mittee were awaiting them. The entire question was then entered 
 into, and it was found that after making the deduction in the measure- 
 ment of " reed spaces" agreed to a few years ago, but which the 
 operatives had unfortunately lost sight of at the time they struck 
 Avork, the list of prices offered by the Blackburn masters' committee 
 recently was virtually that of the Blackburn standard list, for which 
 the operatives turned out. After some discussion, it was agreed that 
 the deputation wait upon the masters' committee, who were assembled 
 at the Fielden's Arms, Market Place. The deputation went there, 
 
 and were received by Messrs. A. B and W. B , two 
 
 of the members of the Blackburn masters' committee, to whom had 
 been referred the settlement of the strike. The operatives were 
 informed that the Padiham manufacturers had undertaken to pay the 
 list of prices agreed upon by the Blackburn committee, and on this 
 being reported to the committee at the Oddfellows' Hall, the matter 
 was discussed for upwards of an hour and a half. At last the 
 question was put to the vote, and by a majority of thirteen votes it 
 was decided that the terms offered by the committee be accepted, 
 and that the operative weavers of Padiham now on strike resume 
 their labours at their respective mills. Twenty-seven votes were 
 given on this occasion; twenty of them were given in favour of the 
 settlement, and seven against it.* 
 
 * See Manchester Guardian, Sept. 16, 1859. 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 463 
 
 This decision of tlie executive committee was not at once adopted, 
 as it practically amounted to a surrender on the part of the operatives, 
 but the executive committee being composed of delegates from the 
 various districts from which the supplies in support of the strike 
 were drawn, it was obviously in vain to contend against a decision 
 which they had adopted by so large a majority. On the 19th Sep- 
 tember a meeting was held at Padiham, at which the Rev. E. A. 
 Verity occupied the chair. 
 
 Both the chairman and one of the paid delegates contended that 
 the operatives had been " sold " by the deputation which had waited 
 upon the Blackburn masters, and the men were urged to stand out 
 for the Blackburn list. — One of the Padiham deputies at the Board, 
 said that the other deputies would scarcely hear him speak, telling 
 him he was paid for his services. Many of the deputies at that 
 Board maintained that the offer of the masters was equal to the 
 standard list, but Mr. Pinder told them plainly it was not. The 
 secretary for Blackburn said if tkey did not resume work they 
 would stop supplies, and begin to support the masters. He said 
 it was moved by Clitheroe, and seconded by Accrington, that the 
 reed space be six inches. It was moved by Blackburn, and seconded 
 by Barrowford, they should resume work ; but Colne stood boldly 
 against it, although it was a down-trodden place. 
 
 Resolutions were then come to, appointing a deputation to confer, 
 with the central executive committee with a view to induce them 
 to reconsider their decision.* 
 
 The result will best appear from the following account of a meet- 
 ing at Padiham on Sunday the 25th September, extracted from the 
 Manchester Guardian of the 26 th September. 
 
 A great meeting was held in the Oddfellows' Hall, Padiham, on 
 Sunday. The delegates held a special meeting prior to the com- 
 mencement of the general meeting, with the view to elicit the general 
 tone and opinion of the districts as to the ratification of the agree- 
 ment made between the operatives' deputation and the Blackburn 
 masters' committee on the previous Wednesday evening. Shortly 
 before eleven o'clock they re-entered the Hall and it was apparent 
 that some disagreement had taken place, and an effort was made 
 by the anti-strike party to place the deputy for Harwood in the 
 
 chair, while the pro-strike party moved the re-election of Mr. L , 
 
 one of the paid delegates, as chairman. After some confusion 
 
 and uproar, the Harwood deputy withdrew, and Mr. L took 
 
 the chair. He urged the operatives to be firm and cautious at this 
 crisis, and thus obtain a final settlement on a firm basis, and above 
 all things to place reliance and confidence in their executive com- 
 mittee. The deputies from Ramsbottom, Barrowford, Haslingden, 
 Colne, Burnley, Leigh, Bolton, 'Preston, Chorley, Clitheroe, Har- 
 wood, Enfield, Accrington, Church, Darwen, and Blackburn, spoke in 
 favour of the operatives resuming work, in order to give the masters 
 
 * Se3 the Manchester Guardian, 20th September, 1859. 
 
464 Account of the 
 
 a fair ti-ial ; and if it Avas found that they did not fully pay up to the 
 Blackburn standard list, the operatives would again be brought out, 
 
 and be amply supported by the various districts. Mr. P , 
 
 secretary to the Blackburn Weavers' Association, denied that the 
 Blackburn Association had compromised the case of the Padiham 
 -weavers, as had been stated. He also denied that the Blackburn 
 Association were ivithdrawing their support from, the operatives ; 
 but intimated that they should do so, if they did not resume work 
 on the terms offered, and see xohethcr the masters toould pay the 
 standard list of prices. The chairman then exhorted the operatives 
 to accept those conditions, and stand to the decisions of the execu- 
 tive committee. The meeting unanimously decided still to abide by 
 the decisions of the executive. In the afternoon the deputation, 
 formed at the operatives' meeting at Padiham, consisting of three 
 males and females, waited upon the executive committee, asking them 
 not to ratify the decision they had agreed to on the previous Wed- 
 nesday. The committee heard the objections of the operatives which 
 had reference to the ' reed-space,' but refused to concede the 
 demand. It was ultimately decided that the operatives should 
 resume work ; but if, at the expiration of a fortnight, it was found 
 that the masters were not paying the standard list of prices, they 
 should again be brought out by the executive." 
 
 Up to this period the strike had lasted twenty-seven weeks, but 
 the collections continued for two weeks longer, the 29th and last 
 weekly balance-sheet being issued on the lOth October, when an 
 amount of £415 I4«. Id. was acknowledged to be in hand, in cash 
 and in the bank. No detailed statement is given of the expenditure 
 of this amount, but by the final report containing a summary of the 
 receipts and payments on account of the strike from 28th March to 
 26th December, it appears that the expenditure continued, though 
 at a gradually decreasing rate, to the 26th December, when the 
 balance in hand was reduced to £5 14s. 4|rf. 
 
 The following is an analysis of the result of the balance-sheets. 
 
 THE COST OP THE TADIHAM STEIKE. 
 
 Sum Collected. Sum sent to Padiham. 
 
 Towns. & s. d. & s. d. 
 
 Blackburn 2,529 12 Oj 2,359 2 5i 
 
 Darwen 1,148 8 4S 1,152 7 2J 
 
 Chui-ch and Hishton 756 7 li 71112 4i 
 
 Accrington 901 6 3J 848 7 2f 
 
 Enfleld 483 12 9S 457 9 2J 
 
 Great Harwood 744 1 4i 691 15 9i 
 
 Padiliam and Sabden 788 7 11 651 18 4J 
 
 Clitheroe 607 17 7i 527 15 9i 
 
 Chorley 292 7 3i 253 6 IJ 
 
 Preston 1,032 18 llj 939 18 Hi 
 
 Bolton 552 2 9i 467 8 3 
 
 Leigh aud Tyldesley 266 1 7 240 15 
 
 Burnley 456 4 OJ 404 12 10 
 
 Colne ' 293 12 4i 268 9 8i 
 
 Haslingden 158 8 11 144 1 9i 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 465 
 
 Barrowford and Xelson £223 5 
 
 Ramsbottom ; 72 7 
 
 Halshaw Moor, Priestwich, and Baoup 11 3 
 
 Manchester 5 
 
 Total £11,334 12 
 
 Oi ... 
 5 ... 
 
 £177 19 
 
 56 2 
 
 9i 
 6 
 
 3 ... 
 
 11 3 
 
 3 
 
 ... 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 li 
 
 £10,380 11 
 
 5 
 
 It will be seen that the amount collected from the various towns 
 realizes £11,334 \2s. \\d., while the money sent to Padiham 
 by the same towns was £10,380 \\s. 5d., the difference in these 
 items £953 Os. S^d., or nearly 9 per cent., having been expended in 
 the process of coUeotion.* 
 
 The following is the analysis given by the Weavers' Association 
 at the foot of their final report : — 
 
 TOTAL or POKTY WEEKS. 
 
 Amount paid to hands 
 
 Amount paid to distressed families 
 
 Amount of "working expenses, including law exijenses, removing 
 
 families, &o. 
 
 Cash in hand 
 
 £ 
 8,624 
 511 
 
 s. 
 4 
 9 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,245 19 
 5 14 
 
 10 
 4i 
 
 £10,387 6 
 
 AVERAGE OF FORTY WEEKS. 
 
 Number of hands paid weekly 659 
 
 Amount paid to hands weekly 215 12 1 
 
 Amount paid to distressed families 12 15 SL'l 
 
 Weekly amount of working expenses, including law expenses, 
 
 removing families, &o 31 2 lltife 
 
 These weekly averages are brought down lower than they other- 
 wise would have been, owing to the period taken going down to 
 26th December, for the last four weeks of which time the payments 
 were only small. 
 
 The sum of £1,245 19*. lOd. in the above totals is made up as 
 follows : — 
 
 Payments to officials, viz. £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 Advocates and dejiuties' expenses and fares 324 11 9i 
 
 Collection at Colne, Burnley, Barrowford, &C.T ... 127 8 5 
 Local Secretary and Treasurer, and General Secre- 
 tary's fares 40 4 8 
 
 Printing and office expenses, viz. 
 
 Kent of meeting and pay rooms, &c. .' 
 
 Printing, stationery, and carriage of parcels ... 
 Postage and receipt stamps 
 
 67 
 
 5 
 
 3* 
 
 607 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 492 4 lOi 
 
 081 5 9* 
 
 * This analysis is taken from the Manchester Guardian, of October 22nd, 1859. 
 The set of balance-sheets with which I have been furnished being short of the first, 
 I am unable to verify the figures perfectly. The total amount sent to Padiham, 
 according to the final Report of the Association, was £10,387 7s. 2id., being 
 £6 15s. 9irf. more than the amount above stated. 
 
 f This must be in addition to the suras deducted before remittance. 
 
466 Account of the 
 
 Law expenses, and money paid to Mr. Verity, 
 
 Law expenses at Padiham ... £40 
 
 Ditto at Bamber Bridge 4 15 
 
 Money advanced to Mr. Verity 22 12 2 
 
 67 7 2 
 Removing families 5 2 
 
 £1,245 19 10 
 
 The total amount paid for expenses of management, printing, &c., 
 therefore, without counting the money paid for removing families, 
 which is properly relief money, is £1,240 Vis. 10c?., which amount, 
 added to the £953 Qs. 8Jrf. deducted for expenses of collection, &c., 
 before the money was remitted to Padiham, gives £2,193 I85. &\d,, 
 or a little over ninteen per cent, of the £11,334 12s. \\d. collected, 
 the amount actually distributed in relief being only £9,140 15.s. Q>d. 
 
 The expenditure of £2,193, in collecting and distributing £11,334 
 is certainly an enormous allowance, being equivalent, to 3«. ^\d. 
 in the pound, or about 2\d. in the shilling. 
 
 It must however be recollected that the chief part of the large 
 amount collected was collected in pence, the rate at which the 
 weavers in other establishments paid being at so much a loom, 
 generally 2d. or 3c?. 
 
 I do not find in the balance-sheets any evidence of their having 
 been audited or checked in any way, but I am informed that they 
 were audited by two members of the committee. I find several mis- 
 takes of small amounts even by examination of the sheets themselves. 
 
 The publication in each sheet of the amounts collected from each 
 mill is some check, though not a very perfect one, on the correctness 
 of the sheets, as some of the hands in the mill would probably know 
 about what amount was collected. The practice was for the col- 
 lectors to go out two together, one taking the money, and the other 
 entering it in a book. I have made inquiry whether the late turn-outs, 
 or other parties connected with the Union, make any complaints of 
 dishonesty in dealing with the funds, but the accounts I receive are 
 contradictory. However, I find even from an early period of the 
 strike, placards signed " A Weaver" and" An Overlooker," which I 
 am informed on inquiry were hona fide productions of persons 
 situated as they represent themselves to be, expressing want of con- 
 fidence in the committee, complaining of the paid advocates receiv- 
 ing 30s. a week whilst the weavers got only 7«., entering into calcu- 
 lations to show that it would take upwards of three years to make up 
 the amount they were losing by getting an allowance of 7s. instead 
 of 16s. wages, and threatening investigation of the accounts. 
 
 These complaints are nowhere very completely or satisfactorily 
 answered. 
 
 One reply, signed " A Weaver," defends the refusal to allow the books 
 to be inspected by " disaffected members," but suggests that the 
 Committee would allow an investigation " by proper persons, se- 
 lected at a proper time, and in a proper place." 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 467 
 
 Anotlier weaver says, " Now I tell you I am a weaver, and would 
 sign my name and go to work to-morrow, but I know you lovers of 
 freedom would ' take me home.' " 
 
 It appears from tlie balance-sheets themselves, that the paid advo- 
 cates, whose business it was to go about to the different towns in 
 the district attending meetings, received 30«. a week each, besides 
 their railway fares, and that considerable sums were also paid to 
 deputies and collectors. 
 
 Taking a few weeks here and there at random, as specimens, I find 
 in the balance-sheet, dated 11th of July, £13 16s. Ad. paid to advo- 
 cates and deputies, and for their railway fares, £2 1 Ss. Od. ; for collect- 
 ing at Burnley (the Burnley contribution being only £10 9s. Id., off 
 which £1 9s. 4Jrf. is already deducted as expenses), £2 Os. Od.; for col- 
 lecting at Colne (the Colne contribution being £9 lO*. lid., off which 
 are deducted bills and posting, 7s., rent of room, 2s., man to Padiham, 
 2*., total lis.) ; and 12s. for local secretary and treasurer,being in all 
 £19 13s. 4d. for the officials and their personal expenses, in addition 
 to which is charged £15 4s. 6d. for printing 10,000 balance-sheets, 
 10s. 9d. for carriage of same, and 8s. for parcels and postages. 
 
 On June the 4th : Paid to advocates, and deputies, and secretaries, 
 and their expenses, £11 5s. 6d., collecting £17 16s. 7d. at Burnley 
 and Colne (besides £1 10s. Od. Burnley expenses) £4 3s. 6d. ; total 
 £15 9s. Od. ; printing and posting, £27 18s. 6d. ; postages, parcels, 
 and conveyance to Harwood, £1 9s. 6d. 
 
 On May the 9th : Paid to advocates, deputies, and secretaries, and 
 their expenses, £12 4s. ll^d. ; collecting £18 lis. 5Jaf. at Burnley, 
 Colne, and Barrowford (besides £1 9s. Id. local expenses) £4 15s. Od., 
 total £16 19s. ll^d. ; for officials' printing, £12 4s. 4J«?., parcels and 
 postages, £1 lis. 6c?. For printing, the amounts paid geem to have 
 been erroneous. 
 
 The persons who were receiving 30s. a week and their travelling 
 expenses as paid advocates, were of the same class as the weavers, 
 that is, could have earned at their ordinary occupation not more than 
 £1 a week. 
 
 Looking at the foregoing figures, and remembering the origin of 
 the strike, the very small amount in dispute, even on the showing 
 of the unionists, the pertinacity with which the wrong position 
 taken was adhered to, and the reluctance with which the decision of 
 the Blackburn masters, confirmed by the executive committee of the 
 Union, was submitted to, — it is difficult to resist the opinion that the 
 pecuniary interest of the managers had a great influence on the 
 course pursued. 
 
 If a trades' union is to be an institution always at work in full 
 vigour, and agitation a permanent feature of the organization, it 
 would certainly be wise to select the cleverest men as advocates, to 
 engage their services permanently, and pay them well. But if on 
 the contrary, the society is to confine itself to playing a watching 
 game, being quiescent when wages are good, and starting into ener- 
 getic activity only when forced to it by circumstances, and with 
 
 H H 
 
468 Account of the 
 
 reluctance, a diffei'ent policy is required. A strike being in itself an 
 admitted evil, and not the normal condition of a trade society, it is 
 essentially a false step to adjust the scales of management so as to 
 make it any one's interest to bring on, or to prolong, what ought lobe 
 an exceptional state of things. A chief complaint of the placarders, 
 whether widely entertained or not, is that they were only paid Ts., 
 whilst their leaders were pocketing 305. Popular leaders should 
 place their disinterestedness above suspicion. It is impossible that 
 the employers or the public would regard with any confidence, or be 
 willing to treat with, men who had a direct pecuniary interest in not 
 coming to terms. 
 
 If the management of the strike had been entrusted to some of the 
 turn-outs themselves, paid at the same rate as the rest, it could not 
 have lasted as many weeks as it did months. 
 
 It must be remembered, of course, that we are not called upon to 
 judge the managers of the Padiham strike individually, but merely 
 to examine the system. Individually there is not very much to be 
 surprised at in their conduct ; — large sums of money were passing 
 through their hands, and they probably managed them as well, and as 
 honestly as any average set of men, accidently placed by circumstances 
 in a position of great and novel responsibility would have done. 
 
 There was no doubt great exasperation existing between the 
 weavers and their employers, which is many times alluded to by the 
 weavers' committee ; but though that may excuse the turn-outs, 
 it is no apology for their leaders, especially for those who were not 
 Padiham men, as their office should have been to have cooled down, 
 and not to have encouraged, such feelings, and to have looked calmly 
 at the real interests of their constituents. 
 
 It may seem very surprising that so large a body of operatives 
 should have allowed themselves to be so led, and have given up 
 earnings of 16«. a week during six months, to receive 6s. or Is., for 
 the sake of a dispute not involving more than about 8s. a week even 
 if their leaders were right. But it must be remembered that the 
 results of the figures we have been examining, and the real amount in 
 dispute were but imperfectly understood by most of the operatives, 
 and, moreover, that the 16*. a week were to be earned by labour for 
 ten hours a day, whilst the 6s. or Is. were paid for idling, and the 
 persons receiving it were at liberty to make earnings in other employ- 
 ments, which many of them actually did to no small extent. One 
 of the men somewhat naively said at a meeting " That they would 
 not work while they could get 6s. a week for laking," {i.e. playing 
 or idling.) 
 
 This no doubt would not have influenced the married men with 
 families too young to enter the mills ; but they were in an excep- 
 tional position, and were no doubt a minority, and some of them 
 evidently did grumble and protest at the position they were forced 
 into against their will ; but to single persons, and those with families 
 old enough to claim allowance, 6*. a week was a support. Moreover 
 the season was summer, idleness was pleasant, and for those who 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 469 
 
 wished to work, there was work in the hay-field, which did not in- 
 terfere with their also receiving relief as turn-outs. 
 
 Notwithstanding the great amount of money spent on the Padiham 
 strike, and the still more serious loss of wages, it is by no means 
 clear that the lesson of that useless sacrifice has taught the ope- 
 ratives much wisdom; the number of weavers out on strike, compared 
 with the exclusive and populous district on which they drew for 
 their support, was small, and the contributions did not press heavily 
 on any individual. Another strike is at this moment (August, 1860) 
 in progress at Colne, conducted by the same Union, and with the 
 same object of obtaining the Blackburn standard list. 
 
 On the other hand, though the losses of the men were so great, 
 neither the Padiham masters nor those who supported them probably 
 lost much by the struggle. 
 
 For the continuance of the Padiham strike was efiectually used as 
 a reason for delaying an advance of wages which would otherwise 
 have been made, in other places of the district; and one of the con- 
 tributors informed me, that what he should have had to pay in in- 
 creased wages, if there had been no strike, was, within a trifle, equal 
 to the sum he had contributed to the support of the Padiham masters ; 
 therefore the other operatives of the district were in fact supporting 
 both masters and men at Padiham in idleness. This powerful com- 
 bination of the operatives has taught the masters to combine also, and 
 the combination of capitalists wiU in the end be the most powerful. 
 
 I do not see in the circumstance of the extensive character of the 
 East Lancashire Weavers' Association cause for the alarm, that the 
 Barnsley Masters' Association appeared by their circular to entertain. 
 The extensiveness of the Union certainly increased the power of the 
 men, for no signs of exhaustion in their funds were apparent, and 
 they might evidently have carried on the struggle till now, if they 
 had pleased. But, at the same time, the extension of the field brought 
 in parties with other feelings, and other interests, and so gives good 
 sense and justice a better chance of being heard, and to that very 
 cause was owing the termination of the strike; for the deputies from 
 Blackburn and other places, being once satisfied that there was no 
 just cause for the strike, terminated it at once by a majority of three 
 to one. 
 
 And supposing, for sake of argument, the favourite project 
 of the Union — namely, an enforcement of a uniform list over the 
 whole district was accomplished, and wages could not be altered 
 without the consent of a union embracing the whole district that fed 
 the Padiham strike — the nlftsters, and not the men, would be the real 
 gainers. Common interest would force the masters to combine too, as the 
 Blackburn masters have done. When trade justified a rise of wages, the 
 tendency of theUnion would be to postpone rather than to accelerate it. 
 No individual master could be successfully applied to for an advance, 
 as he would at once reply that he could not grant it unless it was 
 made general. And if a rise were asked for not justified by the 
 state of trade, or a reduction that was justified by the state of trade 
 
 H H 2 
 
470 Account of the 
 
 were resisted, the extensiveness of the Union would not increase the 
 chances of success; for a general strike would be impossible, and a 
 local strike, with the view of beating the masters in detail, would be 
 easily defeated by their combination. Political economy, as surely 
 as any other natural law, is taught by experience. A combination of 
 weavers no doubt, like any other association, may get into bad or 
 incompetent hands, and much temporary mischief may be done by 
 an attempt to struggle against natural laws. But ultimately the 
 operatives, pushed into the position of leaders of a great organization, 
 would learn wisdom and habits of business by practice in the manage- 
 ment of affairs, and they would certainly find out that the organiza- 
 tion of labour might be pushed too far for the interests of labourers, 
 and that the true office of their union was not to attempt to enforce 
 an unnatural uniformity, but, leaving the law of supply and demand 
 to its natural operation on the price of labour, to confine themselves 
 to putting the individual labourer in as favourable a jjosition for 
 taking advantage of that natural law as the capitalist, by saving him 
 from being forced to accept less than the fair market price for his 
 labour, through fear of starvation. There would then be no such 
 interference as we have seen in the case of Padiham, no desire to 
 promote a strike, but when such an extreme measure needed to be 
 resorted to, it would be left entirely to those immediately concerned 
 in it, the Union merely scrutinizing, and that very rigidly, the justice 
 of their claim to a temporary support by the labour of others. 
 
 This is, however, a subject which justly requires very deep con- 
 sideration. The cotton manufacture is the very life of England. 
 We have hitherto kept with ease ahead of all other nations in this 
 branch of industry, but several foreign countries are now running us 
 very close in the race, and if trade combinations should, even for a 
 time, throw us back, it would be a blow we might never recover 
 from. For the reasons above stated, however, I do not see that 
 there is any ground to fear such a result. It may or may not be 
 true, that a trade of a limited and local character may be injured or 
 driven away by an ignorant interference with the conditions neces- 
 saiy to its prosperity, but the very extensiveness of the cotton 
 manufacture appears to me to secure it from this evil. 
 
 In speaking, however, of the abuse of unions we must not lose 
 sight of their use, and notwithstanding the misuse of their power by 
 the Weavers' Association, the Padiham strike still shows the utility 
 of the Union, if rightly managed. The ten per cent, advance offered 
 before the strike was offered, chiefly owing to the position the men 
 were enabled to take through the supfrort given to them by the 
 Association, and would not have been obtained without it. It would 
 be in vain to preach to the men against trades' unions, after such an 
 example. 
 
 There is another important question arising out of this strike that 
 I have still left unexamined, namely, whether the masters were right 
 or wrong in refusing to deal with Mr. Pinder, the secretary of the 
 association, in the settlement of the dispute between themselves and 
 
Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 471 
 
 their men, or to allow liim or any nominee of the Union, as a matter 
 of right, to enter their mills and measure the machinery, for the 
 purpose of verifying the correspondence of their prices with the 
 Blackburn list. 
 
 The masters appear to me to have been unconciliatory and inju- 
 dicious in their mode of treating the application, and I think that, 
 while refusing the claim of any third party to interfere as a matter 
 of right, they might, without sacrifice of dignity or principle, have 
 received Mr. Binder as the agent of their own men, and pointed out, 
 as they afterwards did, a course by which their own men could, by 
 calling in third parties to their assistance, satisfy themselves of the 
 correctness of the calculations on which the payment for their labour 
 was to be based. The men were as much parties to the contract as 
 the masters, and had an equal right to test its conditions, and the 
 masters were bound in common justice to aiFord them all reasonable 
 facilities for doing so ; and if they declined to let Mr. Finder make 
 this examination as the agent of their men, because the claim was made 
 in a way that gave it too much the colour of a claim to a right to 
 interfere in the contracts to be made between themselves and their 
 men, they should have confined themselves strictly to that ground, 
 by at once pointing out some other mode in which their men could 
 satisfy themselves on the point in dispute. 
 
 At the same time, I think the masters had a perfect right to 
 decline to treat with any association comprising others besides their 
 own hands, as to the terms on which they should pay for the labour 
 they required. The men had a perfect right to form any association 
 they pleased, and to consult the committee of such association as to 
 the tei-ms on which they would dispose of their labour, and if they 
 pleased, to be guided by the united wisdom of the association rather 
 than their own ; but they had no right to insist on their masters 
 •dealing with the association instead of with themselves directly. 
 Even if the only claim of the association or its secretary was to be 
 treated as the agent of the men, the masters were quite justified in 
 refusing to treat through an agent, who, they considered, was giving 
 injudicious advice to his principal touching the matter in hand, still 
 more with an agent whom they suspected of making himself a prin- 
 cipal for the purpose of carrying out a more extensive object, of 
 which the Padiham question only formed part. 
 
 Some persons justified the conduct of the men, by quoting the 
 masters, who have done the same, and instanced their stating that 
 they were pledged to their association not to settle the strike with 
 the committee or their secretary, but only with their own hands. 
 But I can see no weight in such an argument. I do not deny the 
 right of either men or masters to combine, and to be guided, if they 
 please, in their individual action, by the decision of the majority of 
 the association, but neither of them have any right to force it on the 
 other party, that they should treat not with themselves individually, 
 but with an association of v/hich they formed part only. 
 
 It is much to be deplored that we do not see in this strike any in- 
 
472 Account of the Weavers' Strike at Padiham. 
 
 clination, on the part of the men, to abandon the practice of attempting, 
 by intimidation, to compel the minority to obey the decisions of the ma- 
 jority. Happily there were few breaches of the peace, and in that 
 respect modern strikes in the Lancashire cotton districts show a great 
 improvement when compared with those of thirty years ago, as for 
 instance with the Ashton strike of 1831. But the element of in- 
 timidation was still present and active. This attempt of the turn- 
 outs to prevent others from accepting a price for their labour, which 
 they themselves refuse, is an unmixed evil, and is the worst feature 
 of trades' societies. It is a breach alike of economical and moral 
 laws, and is true tyranny. Human nature, however, is the same in 
 all ranks, and whilst blaming the Padiham turn-outs, we must not 
 forget that they are only practising the same attempt to regulate the 
 price at which a commodity shall be sold, that was formerly practised 
 by trade guilds, and even carried out by acts of Parliament, and that 
 has been, even in our day, actually enforced by an edict of the 
 Emperor of France ; and as other bodies have in time learnt the 
 foUy of such a course, no doubt the operatives wiU in time follow 
 in their steps. 
 
AN ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ^INNEES' STRIKE AT ASHTON-UNDEE-LYNE 
 
 IN 1830. 
 
 PKEPAEED FOU 
 
 Cljt NattDttal assoriation £ot tfjt ^romnttDn n£ Sorial Srimw, 
 
 AT THE EEQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE ON TEADES' SOCIETIES. 
 
 By WILLIAM A. JEVONS. 
 
 December, 1830, the whole of the spinners and other hands in 
 ii±(.y-two factories at Ashton-under-Lyne, Dukinfield, Staleybridg«, 
 and Mossley, left their employment, to the number of, it was said, 
 about 18,000. The turn-outs at first attempted to perambulate the 
 district in enormous processions, of several thousands in number, 
 with banners, and armed with pistols, which they oceasioBally fired 
 off ; but the magistrates of Ashton and Manchester, having issued 
 notices that such proceedings were illegal, they were discontinued. 
 The dispute in this case was between the reduced price of 3«. 9d. 
 per 1000 hanks of No. 40's offered by the masters, and 4*, 2d. 
 claimed by the men. The following resolution was advertised in 
 the newspapers of the day, purporting to emanate from a general 
 meeting of delegates of the operative spinners of the United 
 Kingdom. 
 
 " We, the deputies appointed by the general body of operatiTe 
 spinners, being fully invested by our constituents with such power, 
 do determine that a general strike of all those spinners who are 
 receiving less than As. 2d. per 1000 hanks for No. 40's (and other 
 numbers in proportion) on all sizes of wheels, shall take place on 
 Monday the 27th instant ; not one of whom shall return to work 
 until the full price be given." 
 
 These orders were intended to apply to the whole of the manufac- 
 turing districts, but in fact, except the spinners already on strike in 
 the neighbourhood of Ashton, they were only obeyed by the hands 
 of about forty mills, in Glossop and Longdendale. 
 
 Very early in this strike (on the 18th December, 1830) the fol- 
 lowing resolution of the Masters' Association was inserted as aaa 
 advertisement in the Manchester Guardian, and other papers. 
 
 " That the Association have formed their price list from the best 
 information they could obtain, and believe it to be a fair average of 
 
474 An Account of the 
 
 the price paid in tlie immediate surrounding districts, wliicli tliey 
 have to meet in the same marliet ; and that disclaiming all idea of 
 obtaining their labour below that of the spinners and manufacturers 
 similarly situated, they are willing to submit it to a public examina- 
 tion, and abide by the result." 
 
 No notice was at first taken by the operatives of this document, 
 but afterwards they made application to the masters for a meeting, 
 which was arranged to take place on the 20th of January, at the 
 Manor Court-room at Ashton. A deputation of two men repre- 
 sented the operatives. The masters submitted to the meeting a list 
 of four resolutions agreed to by the Masters' Association, of which 
 the two last were as follows : — 
 
 " 3. That though the Association see no reason to believe that the 
 list adopted is below the above mentioned average rate, they are 
 perfectly willing to enter with the operatives into an examination of 
 the prices paid at the commencement of the turn-out, either in the 
 immediate surrounding districts, or the mills connected with the 
 Manchester market (the mills of the Association being excluded), 
 both parties agreeing to abide by the result of an average determined 
 by the proportionate amount of spindles working at the respective 
 prices. 
 
 " 4. That a committee of twelve masters and twelve men be 
 appointed for the purpose of ascertaining the average, subdividing 
 themselves into committee for the diiferent districts." 
 
 This meeting was conducted without any of those expressions of 
 acrimonious feeling which might have been expected, but it produced 
 no practical result. The masters, after submitting the foregoing 
 resolutions, offered to supersede them by an offer of 3«. 9d.- — but 
 that proposal being submitted to the men, was unanimously rejected. 
 Several of the men then intimated their objection to adopting an 
 average list, calculated according to the number of spindles, and 
 finally, the two parties separating, the men sent into the masters an 
 ofier to accept 4*. \d., which was rejected, the masters abiding by 
 their list, and the men practically declining to enter upon the calcu- 
 lations of an average list founded on the number of spindles, but 
 contending for an average list framed according to the prices paid in 
 the difierent districts without reference to the number of spindles. 
 
 Great irritation arose amongst the operatives from the failure of 
 this attempt at a settlement of the dispute, and their organ, u paper 
 called The Voice of the People, wrote of the matter in such un- 
 ,neasured terms as the following : " We had expected that oppres- 
 sion in the Ashton neighbourhood would have been relaxed in its 
 cruel gripings by the pacific and conciliatory demeanour of the 
 operatives, who were deputed to hold an interview with the master 
 cotton-spinners. But alas ! the importunities of 30,000 famishing 
 people met with no sympathy. No expression of kindness was 
 suffered to calm the irritation injustice had produced. The masters 
 abruptly and indifferently retired to their homes, leaving their 
 sullen reserve and soul-cutting contempt to produce their natural 
 
Spinners' Strike at Ashton-under-Lyne. 475 
 
 effects. ... In conclusion, we feel we are only doing our duty 
 when we say to the masters, Beivare of the had and dangerous 
 spirit your obdurate exactions are engendering." 
 
 The move next made was on the part of the masters, who issued 
 the following advertisement : — 
 
 " Notice. — At a general meeting of the Associated Master Spin- 
 ners and Manufacturers of Ashton-under-Lyne, Staleybridge, Dukin- 
 field, and Mossley, held at the White Bear Inn, Piccadilly, Man- 
 chester, on Tuesday, the 1st day of February instant, it was unani- 
 mously resolved : — ' That the mills of the Association be opened 
 on Thursday, the 3rd day of February instant, to offer employment 
 to such of their workmen as choose to resume the same, at the 
 masters' list price; and all such as do not return to their work their 
 places will be supplied by others." 
 
 The mills were accordingly opened on the day named. At a few 
 of the mills more or less of the hands returned to work the same day, 
 and the following week considerable jsrogress was made in filling the 
 mills, and the return of the old hands was much accelerated by the 
 influx of unemployed spinners from other districts, many of whom 
 had been for a long time out of work, and who were consequently 
 very glad to obtain employment. These new hands displaced some 
 of the old ones who were too slow in returning to their work, and 
 others of the old hands who had made themselves obnoxious to the 
 masters during the strike were refused work on that account; and 
 from these causes, it was supposed, that in Staleybridge alone there 
 were nearly a hundred hands, who, their places having been supplied 
 by others, were unable to obtain work. At other places also in the 
 district the same result occurred. Some slight attempts were made 
 to interfere with the hands who had returned to their work, but they 
 were successfully repressed. 
 
 Attempts were made by the operatives' Union to maintain the strike, 
 but without success, and shortly all the mills were at work again. 
 
 During this strike the men were supported by a very extensive 
 union, called the " National Association for the Protection of 
 Labour," and meetings were held in their favour in many different 
 parts of the country ; but owing to the great number of persons 
 thrown out of employment, the resources at the disposal of the Union 
 were found quite inadequate to their support, and very great dis- 
 tress was the consequence, as was acknowledged by the organs of 
 both parties. 
 
 I cannot find in the grounfl. taken by the operatives any substantial 
 complaints but the ordinary ones, that the wages offered were not 
 such as the masters could have afforded to give, or in other words 
 that the division of profit between the capitalist and the labourer 
 was an unfair one, and that they were below the general average of 
 the district. These positions, however, were advanced with much 
 acrimony, and an extraordinary amount of ill feeling was engendered. 
 At a meeting at Glasgow, held in support of the men, I find the 
 following resolutions were passed : — 
 
476 An Account of the 
 
 " That the attempt made by fifty-two employers in Ashton, Staley- 
 bridge, &c., to reduce wages, is a wanton, selfish, and cruel attempt 
 to destroy the interests of the working classes in the United King- 
 dom, as from every information, both from the honourable employers 
 in the trade and others, there is at this time no occasion to reduce 
 the wages of the operatives. 
 
 " That as the twenty thousand individuals who have resisted 
 this impolitic and uncalled for reduction of wages have, and are, in 
 consequence suffering severe privations, in the principle that their 
 case involves a great and extended interest ; they are therefore 
 entitled to encouragement and pecuniary support from all branches 
 of trade, and from every true friend of the human race." 
 
 There were many assertions published at the time in the papers 
 advocating the side of the masters, and urging that the wages earned 
 by the men at the masters' list of prices were liberal, and that they 
 averaged nearly 30s. a week. I find The Voice of the People 
 replying to them as follows : — 
 
 "But there is a more important point of view in which these 
 gentlemen ought to be vieved by the country. We are not aware 
 that any decisive proof has ever been offered to the public of the 
 havock which these ' cotton hells ' make with their unhappy inmates. 
 Few, comparatively, are able to follow their employment as spin- 
 ners more than fifteen years. These fifty-two, and others in the same 
 business, are continually telling us of the large earnings which their 
 hands receive ; but it will be seen from the following table, which 
 has been prepared from the individual statements of the men now 
 turned out of these mills, that they should receive much higher wages 
 than at present falls to their lot, to place them on an equality with 
 other descriptions of labourers. 
 
 "Out of 1,669 men employed as spinners and stretchers in their 
 mills, not more than one-fourth exceed the age of thirty-five, and 
 only one in twenty are employed above forty-five. These facts 
 speak for themselves. We shall leave the public to draw their own 
 conclusions." Here follows the table from which the above results 
 are taken. It appears therefore that the amount of wages earned 
 was substantially admitted. This turn-out is unfortunately remark- 
 able for the very serious outrages which attended it. On one occa- 
 sion a body of the turn-outs, to the number of 500 or 600, attacked \ 
 the factory of Messrs. John and William Sidebottom and Co., at Mill- 
 brook in Longdendale, the hands of which had turned out along with 
 those employed at the other mills in the neighbourhood, but a portion 1 
 of whom had returned to their work. The mob found their way | 
 into the mill, and dragged the spinners whom they found at work i 
 into the road, where they turned all their coats inside out, tied them 
 together with cords, inscribed the obnoxious price 3«. 9</. on their 
 backs with chalk, drove them along the road for five or six miles and 
 then dismissed them, after informing them, that if they were found 
 working again until they had obtained their price, their lives would - 
 be forfeited. 
 
Spinners' Strike at Ashton-under-Lyne. 477 
 
 There was also about the same time, namely on the 3rd of 
 January, 1831, a still more atrocious act committed, in the murder of 
 Mr. Thomas Ashton, who was shot on his way from his father's house 
 at Pole Bank, near Hyde, to his own factory. The perpetrators of 
 this crime were not discovered till three years afterwards, when two 
 men, named James G-arside and Joseph Mossley, were tried and con- 
 victed at the Chester Assizes, partly upon the evidence of William 
 Mossley, an approver, and upon the confession of Garside, both of 
 whom spoke to the murder being done by the order of the Union, 
 and that they were to receive £10 for it.* This evidence being given 
 some considerable time after the event, and by the parties concerned, 
 there appears no reason to suspect it. About the same time Mr, 
 James Howard, a cotton-spinner of Spring Grove, was fired at through 
 the window when sitting in his counting house. Mr. Howard was 
 a member of the Association of Master Spinners, and his hands had 
 turned out, along with the others. On the 14th of January, Mr. 
 Charles Kershaw, of Mossley, one of the spinners whose workpeople 
 had joined the turn-out, was sitting in his kitchen in the evening, as 
 he was in the habit of doing, when a gun or pistol charged with six 
 bullets was fired through the back window, but owing to the charge 
 striking against one of the stanchions of the window, no injury was 
 done to him, or to any of his family, who were sitting with him at 
 the time. 
 
 The conclusions I have arrived at as to this strike are as follows : 
 
 1. That it arose from a mere wages question. 
 
 2. That the question in dispute was not whether the men were, 
 irrespective of the state of trade, entitled to a minimum rate of wages 
 sufficient to support life in comfort, but whether the masters were 
 paying a fair market rate of wages. 
 
 3. That although to some extent, probably, the men gave in from 
 physical distress, to a great extent they were forced to a surrender 
 by the masters being about to fill their mills with other hands, and 
 that therefore the state of the labour market practically decided the 
 matter in dispute in favour of the masters. 
 
 4. That the statements I have access to do not enable me to 
 decide whether the average prices of the manufacturing districts 
 
 * William Mossley, the approver, said, " The two men talked with Garside and 
 my brother, but I could not hear perfectly what was said. I heard something 
 about ' the Union.' They remained talking about half an hour, when they went I 
 joined my brother and Garside, and I asked them what they were going to do, 
 and they both said they had agreed with these men to shoot one of the Mr. 
 Ashtons. I asked them what it was for, and they said it was up' account o' the 
 Union, the turn-out. I asked them what they must have for it, and they said £10." 
 
 Garside, in his confession when in Derby gaol, said, " I asked what money 
 it was the job was to be done for, and whether Mr. Ashton was to be robbed of it ; 
 and Joseph told me "he ivas employed by the spinners' Union at Ashton, and he 
 was to have £10 for it, and he said he and the Union men had been over the 
 ground the day before and settled how to proceed." Mr. James Ashton, the brother 
 of the murdered young man, said, " I had discharged one man previously to the 
 3rd of January for being in this Union." 
 
478 Account of the Spinners' Strike at Ashton-under-Lyne. 
 
 when fairly taken were as contended for by the masters, or as alleged 
 by the men. 
 
 5. That apart from the error in their calculations, there is no 
 reason for blaming the men for the attempt to obtain higher wages, 
 or for the combination to obtain them. 
 
 6. That there is no ground for blaming the masters for the reduc- 
 tion of wages, or for their acting in combination or concert upon the 
 matter, the result having proved that the state of the labour market 
 justified the reduction. 
 
 7. That the men individually committed great wrong in the out- 
 rages that were committed and' attempted against the masters, and 
 the intimidation exercised against their fellow workmen who dif- 
 fered from them in the course of action they thought fit to pursue. 
 
 8. That the Union of the men is not free from suspicion of com- 
 plicity with the worst of these outrages. 
 
 9. That the abstract right or wi'ong of the struggle is not, how- 
 ever, to be judged by the misconduct of the individuals who were 
 personally or officially concerned in it. 
 
 10. That there is nothing in the struggle to show that a combina- 
 tion of labourers, however extensive, is permanently able to obtain 
 terms from capitalists which the state of the labour market would 
 not justify. 
 
AN ACCOUNT 
 
 OF 
 
 SHIPWEIGHTS' TRADES' SOCIETIES, 
 
 IN 
 
 LIVERPOOL, THE TYNE, AND OTHER 
 PORTS, 
 
 PREPARED FOR 
 
 ®f)c National atssotiattott for tfje prnmotian of Sacial ScintK, 
 
 AT THE REQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE SOCIETIES, 
 
 By PHILIP H. RATHBONE. 
 
 LIVERPOOL SHIPWRIGHTS. 
 
 [Materials : — Poll Books of 1790 ; Committee of House of Commons ; Artisans 
 and Machinery ; Minutes of Masters' Association for 1823-24 ; Sundry Docu- 
 ments relating to ditto ; Evidence of Master Shipwrights before Liverpool Com- 
 mittee ; Evidence of Secretary of Operative Shipwright Association ; &c., &c., &c.] 
 
 The operative shipwriglits of Liverpool have for many years 
 (with short intervals of disorganization) formed one of the most 
 compact trade societies in the kingdom, and the master shipbuilders 
 have maintained a counter association for probably an equal period. 
 The first deed of incorporation which is preserved among the re- 
 cords of the latter is dated 1812, but this probably is merely a re- 
 statement of the principles upon which the Association was originally 
 founded, such as was repeated in 1823, and again in 1834. Indeed 
 this Association appears to have preserved more of the features of 
 the ancient guild than any other of which I am aware, and probably 
 dates from a much earlier period than any of its existing records. 
 I have been able to procure no documentary evidence of the exist- 
 ence of the Shipwrights' Union so early, but some whose experience 
 extends over considerably more than half a century, say, that the 
 Shipwrights' Society has been a well-known body as long as they can 
 remember. I have been told by a representative of one of the oldest 
 shipbuilding firms of the town, that the power of the society was 
 very much consolidated by the protection it afforded against the 
 pressgang in the French war. On one occasion only was there an 
 attempt made to impress a member of the body. This attempt was not, 
 however, successful ; a loaded cannon was placed opposite the door of 
 the rendezvous, and the man was demanded and given up. This cannon 
 seems to have figured upon more than one occasion, and a tradition 
 exists that in 1804 the then mayor, Mr. Aspinall, when driving in 
 the town, met a large body of the shipwrights with their cannon. 
 
 *H H 4 
 
480 An Account of 
 
 He leapt out, seized tlie ringleader, placed him iu the mayor's coacli, 
 and drove off witli liim to the Bridewell before any of the men had 
 time to recover their senses. Another circumstance which gave 
 the society considerable power was the fact that the shipwrights 
 were all freemen, and their influence was necessary to the success of 
 a candidate. In the evidence before the committee of the House of 
 Commons, 1824, it is mentioned that it was customary for both sides 
 to send down large donations to the Union when there appeared to 
 be a probability of an election. (At that time also the mayor was 
 elected by the town at large.) 
 
 In 1790, when the two political parties came to an agreement to 
 elect their old members, the shipwrights bent u25on having a contest, 
 set up their own man, and carried him against both combined. At 
 the beginning of this century, Liverpool was not only remarkable for 
 the beauty of her fcliips, but was known as being one of the best and 
 cheapest repairing ports in the world; and American captains would 
 (I am told by one of the oldest American merchants) defer any re- 
 pairs they could in order to have them done on this side of the At- 
 lantic. Sometimes a lower freight would be taken to Liverpool than 
 to another port, in order that the ship might come here to be cop- 
 pered. This, it is needless to say, has ceased to be the case for many 
 years. The shipwrights, therefore, were then relatively a much 
 more important body in the town than they are now, and bore a 
 much larger proportion to the number of shipwrights of the United 
 Kingdom. There were also several conditions peculiar to the trade 
 (most of which still exist), which contributed to make the Ship- 
 wrights' Society one of the most powerful in the kingdom. 
 
 Ships were chiefly built by apprentices, and journeymen were only 
 employed upon old work in the public graving docks. Another 
 point to be remembered is, that two-thirds of the repairs are very 
 often paid by the underwriters, and that it is actually sometimes the 
 shipowner's interest to increase his bill, in order that it may amount 
 to 3 per cent, upon the value of his vessel. The wages for repairs were 
 paid by the merchants or owners direct, and not by the master ship- 
 wrights. The masters were therefore fond of cliiefly relying upon 
 apprentices, and to such an extent was this carried that the merchants 
 joined with the men in a recommendation (which practically amounted 
 to an order) that only one apprentice should be employed to every three 
 journeymen in old work. There appears, however, to have been no 
 limit to apprentices upon new work, except in the case of two firms, 
 who, for some unexplained reason, were limited to five each. In 
 other ways the society, in its palmy days, was extremely peremptory. 
 It was ruled by an executive committee of twenty-one, formed upon 
 the principle of strict rotation. The president and secretary were, 
 however, elected, and the latter appears to have had a most singular 
 power of altering the laws of the society at his own discretion. 
 
 The society was nominally a mere benefit club, to which, in 1824, 
 the monthly subscription was Is. 'Sd., and in that year the actual 
 balance was iijjwards of £2,200, which sum it was propoj^ed to lay 
 
Shipiorights' Trades' Socielies. 481 
 
 out in almshouses for old members. This intention was afterwards 
 carried out. The shipwrights still possess nineteen almshouses 
 beneath their meeting hall in Bond Street. In 1824 it was denied 
 by the delegates of the club, before the Committee of the House of 
 Commons, that the funds were ever used for trade purposes, and 
 owing to the complete system of intimidation established, there were 
 few strikes of long duration. In their own yards the employers 
 were enabled to hold their own, as the ships were chiefly built by 
 apprentices, whom the masters could, and did put in prison, on the 
 slightest appearance of insubordination. On the other hand, ships' 
 repairs would not wait, and a very short turn-out brought matters 
 to a crisis, as the captain or owner insisted upon the work being 
 finished, and would not enter into the quarrels of master shipwrights 
 and their men. 
 
 The men seem to have been much more amenable in the matter of 
 wages than in other ways, because these were paid by the merchant 
 direct, who could threaten, if wages were too high, to send his ships 
 then and there to another of the outports, where they were consider- 
 ably lower. In other ways, the club appears to have possessed a 
 power which was often exercised with a violence with which the 
 police were utterly unable to cope. Even that august authority the 
 mayor, seems upon one occasion to have quailed before them, 
 although there is conflicting evidence upon this point; but one 
 thing is clear, viz., that the town was sometimes completely in their 
 hands. The masters asserted before Mr. Hume's committee, that they 
 could not dismiss a man for drunkenness or slovenly work, and that 
 their only redress Avas to complain to the club, who sometimes 
 punished the delinquent by drilling him. Drilling consisted in 
 obliging a man to be out of work for a certain number of days. One 
 man was fined a guinea by the club, for doing too much work in one 
 day. In 1817 day work was introduced, and piecework prohibited; 
 the reason given being, that otherwise the old men would sufier. It 
 appeared in evidence, however, that one effect was to throw the old 
 men often entirely out of employ, as no man would pay the same 
 wages for an old man as for a young one, when he could get the 
 latter. One shipbuilder was ruined in resisting the club, and by the 
 attempt to bring shipwrights from a distance, and the men were 
 terribly ill-treated. He had to call his creditors together, and they 
 induced him to make a public apology to the men in the papers (it is 
 fair to say, that under great provocation, he had on one occasion 
 shovsTi some want of temper). He never afterwards ventured to 
 oppose his men in anything. No builder was allowed to contract 
 (or lump) for work, and the slightest suspicion of such a thing 
 caused the men to strike. The appointment of foremen was also a 
 constant source of disagreement. One man (Mr. Wilson), who being 
 objected to by the men, had to leave his place, undertook the repairs 
 of a schooner, with eight non-society men. Three to four hundred 
 men came down and threw the men and their tools overboard (there 
 were some two and ii half feet of water round the vessel), with the 
 
482 * An Accovnt af 
 
 exception of one; — round his body they put slings, and l)Ooked the 
 main topsail halyards to the slings; they then took part of a hand- 
 pump to beat the slings together upon his body, and beat him also 
 upon the head with the same instrument most severely. Inshore of 
 the schooner upon which the men were engaged, a flat was lying, the 
 men got her fore-halyards, and hooked them also to the slings, they 
 then having hoisted the man a certain height off the deck, let go the 
 schooner's topsail halyards, and swung him right across the flat's deck, 
 when he fell into the next yard. They then returned on board, and 
 gave Mr. Wilson a most severe beating, they cut him most unmerci- 
 fully, and endeavoured to throw him down into the vessel's hold. 
 While he was attempting to get ashore from the schooner, they went 
 with a rush behind him, and he was nearly precipitated into the flat's 
 hold, but most fortunately he got ashore covered with blood and 
 dreadfully wounded, when they took no more notice of him. War- 
 rants were out against six of the men, but the president of the club 
 met Mr. Wilson, and made an offer that if he would get the warrants 
 withdrawn, the club would allow men to work for him, either as 
 master or foreman. As his livelihood, very possibly his life, depended 
 upon his acceptance of this offer, he was strongly advised by his 
 friends not to reject it, and his family being large, he accepted it. 
 On another occasion, a gang of men not belonging to the town were 
 smeared over with tar, put into a cart, and carted some miles out of 
 town, then turned out, and recommended not to return. 
 
 I am rather led to infer that soon after the peace the men's asso- 
 ciation became somewhat disorganized for some years, consequently 
 the masters' association also, but about this period I have not been 
 able to procure any precise information. I think it probable, however, 
 that much of the violence which appears to have prevailed for a few 
 years previous to 1824 was caused by the efforts of leaders of unions 
 to recover the power they had been enabled to wield in the days of 
 the old pressgang. On the 16th October, 1823, the master ship- 
 wrights met, and reorganized their association. In order probably 
 to keep on the safe side of the Combination Laws their object was 
 defined to be "the prosecution of felons, and prevention of felonies," 
 which was the object stated in the deed of 1812. 
 
 Their action was called for within a month, though not against 
 the shipwrights, but against the ship-sawyers, who appear to have 
 been a considerably worse body than the former. Several meetings 
 appear to have been held, to take measures for the protection of non- 
 union sawyers, and legal proceedings were authorized to be taken at 
 the expense of the Association, in cases where certain sawyers had 
 been assaulted. In December we find one firm authorizing the pay- 
 ment of 18s. per week, to one of their sawyers disabled from work 
 by an assault. Under date of 18th December, we find this reso- 
 lution, — "Resolved that a temperate, but at the same time a firm 
 and determined communication be forthwith made to the operative 
 shipwrights generally, that any journeyman shipwright who may 
 enter the employment of any individual not having a regular 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 483 
 
 establishment in tlie trade, shall be, in the estimation of the master 
 shipwrights, held as totally disqualified to serve them ; that legiti- 
 mate connexion between those engaged in the same profession being 
 thus dissolved, such men need never calculate on receiving the 
 slightest encouragement or employment whatever, from any house 
 regularly established in the trade." 
 
 This resolution was apparently directed against establishments 
 which afterwards became very common, under the name of " pitchpot 
 yards," i.e., yards belonging to masters who only repaired ships and 
 did not build them, and who, therefore,4n consequence of the graving 
 docks being open to all, required very small regular establishments. 
 
 On February 28th, eight master shipwrights were appointed a depu- 
 tation to give evidence before the House of Commons. About the 
 end of March, apparently, the president and secretary of the Journey- 
 men ShipvsTights' Club proposed to meet the members of the Master 
 Shipwrights' Association, for the purpose of mutual explanation ; 
 and accordingly, a special meeting of the latter body was called, to 
 which each member was requested to " come prepared with a catalogue 
 in detail of such complaints as can be justly offered to the present 
 rules and modes of acting pursued by the journeymen shipwrights." 
 In the end, four master shipwrights were appointed to lay their 
 views before the Journeymen's Club, which they did in a long state- 
 ment, which was replied to on the part of the Operatives' Club, who 
 again were answered by the masters. The importance of these docu- 
 ments, as showing the relations between the two associations, will 
 justify our bestowing some attention on them. The first statement 
 of the masters commences thus : — 
 
 " LiVEKPOOL, May 1st, 1824. 
 " As the present interview is undertaken on the principles of 
 effecting mutual good, and for the express purpose of establishing a 
 correct understanding between individuals whose interests are one 
 and the same, it cannot for a moment be doubted but that the result 
 must be an increase of comfort and happiness in their vocation. 
 
 " The following propositions are therefore confidently submitted 
 by the master shipwrights of the port of Liverpool to the conside- 
 ration of the journeymen; and as the removal of the existing evils 
 now pointed out rests entirely with the latter, it becomes the duty of 
 the better informed individuals, of which they are constituted, to state 
 to their less intelligent fellow-workmen the propriety of a prompt 
 adoption of the sound principles of fidelity and justice in the prose- 
 cution of their valuable labour, rather than to attempt to persevere 
 in a system not recognised or practised in any other port in the king- 
 dom, — a system founded in injustice, and subversive of that good, 
 order which so eminently distinguishes the commercial and trading 
 community of this nation, and which is alike injurious to the interests 
 and comfort of the masters and journeymen shipwrights of this port, 
 and of those valued friends to each — the shipowners, by whom both 
 are sustained. 
 
 " In thus briefly premising the statement of grievances about to be- 
 
 I I 
 
484 An Account of 
 
 given, it would be uncandid not to explain to the journeymen ship- 
 wrights that their erroneous proceedings (as a club or society) have 
 excited observation in a high department ; that the means of effectual 
 redress have been distinctly pointed out and in a degree conferred ; 
 but as the master shipwrights feel conscious that a large proportion 
 of the journeymen consists of moral and well-informed men, whose 
 influence with those unhappy individuals of a contrary description 
 (of whom not a few are interspersed amongst them), if judiciously 
 and conscientiously exerted, would, without any other interference, 
 accomplish the re-establishment of a correct and satisfactory perform- 
 ance of the duties they have in their respectable station of life to fulfil, — 
 the master shipwrights again express themselves confident that the 
 present interview will result in an increase of happiness to every in- 
 terested party, by pacifically effecting a discontinuance of those ob- 
 noxious rules and regulations adopted by the journeymen shipviTights 
 of Liverpool within the last few years — regulations which they must, 
 on very slight reflection, be aware are inadmissible in any well-ordered 
 trade, and which operate injuriously to the employers, whilst the 
 conceived advantage to the employed is groundless and imaginary." 
 
 The first complaint the master shipwrights offer is — that a rule 
 exists, or an understanding is established, amongst the society of 
 journeymen, that any individual amongst them who may be con- 
 victed of exceeding a specific extent of caulking or other work pre- 
 scribed by the club, is subjected to a penalty or some other punish- 
 ment — though he can, with comfort to himself, do more than his less 
 industrious fellow- workmen. 
 
 This rule or understanding the masters condemin, in severe but 
 not unkindly terms. 
 
 The next complaint is want of attention to the bell, which, it 
 appears, rang for the commencement of labour. The masters, reason- 
 ably enough, complain that " the ten, but much oftener fifteen or 
 twenty minutes, thus taken by each man, when multiplied by the 
 number so transgressing, will exhibit an aggregate daily loss of 
 serious importance to their employers, without yielding any real 
 benefit to the journeymen, who must, on the contrary, feel much 
 more self-approbation at the conclusion of their day's labour, in the 
 sterling conviction of having done justice to the parties by whom 
 they have been employed, than in returning to their several homes 
 impressed with the uncomfortable sense of not having honestly 
 satisfied their employers." 
 
 The document next complains of the existence of a rule requiring 
 ten men to be employed, invariably, upon the loading of blocks for 
 graving dock purposes, which, " though in very particular cases 
 it may not be too many, yet, generally speaking, is imposing another 
 objectionable tax upon the shipowner." 
 
 The next complaint is the " unjust prohibition of any shipviTights 
 not connected with the club from working with its members." 
 After stating that they (the masters) have been strongly urged to 
 introduce shipwrights from other ports, they go on to say : " It only 
 remains for the master shipwrights to assure the journeymen that. 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 485 
 
 provided the work of the port can be satisfactorily accomplished by 
 the resident shipwrights, they are (as residents) entitled to a marked 
 preference, and which preference, under such circumstances, will at 
 all times be given. It must be, however, always taken for granted 
 that the sailing carpenter of any ship under repair should work at 
 the vessel whenever his master may think proper to direct him." 
 
 The next complaint is of interference with the right of discharg- 
 ing workmen, the masters remarking, that it is their interest not pre- 
 maturely to discharge a really competent workman. Lastly, they insist 
 upon their right to select what foremen they please, but " should 
 just ground of complaint be given by any such foreman, let it be 
 candidly stated to the master employing him, and it shall have due 
 attention, and the cause of it be redressed." 
 
 Finally, after some general remarks the memorial goes on to say : 
 
 " In concluding the present interview, the master shipwrights 
 profess themselves (and hope they will on every occasion be found) 
 not unreasonable men. They suggest the propriety of no further 
 regulation being established amongst the journeymen which may 
 aiFect the prosecution of the trade, without being in a candid and 
 friendly manner submitted to the masters, who, if the proposition be 
 founded on correct principles, and reasonable in its extent, will in 
 no case withhold their sanction to its adoption : — but, if likely to 
 prove injurious to any of the parties interested, will, with equal 
 candour state their objections, so that such a conclusion may be 
 attained on any point at issue as may be mutually satisfactory. And 
 here it may be again justly observed, that the interest of masters 
 and men is indivisible, and nothing is so much required to make the 
 trade as comfortable and reputable in the port of Liverpool as else- 
 where, as mutual confidence, and a total rejection of that mistaken 
 policy which encourages the notion that their interests axe opposed 
 to each other." 
 
 To this statement of grievances, the shipwrights replied by the 
 
 following document :■ — * 
 
 " Liverpool, 1824. 
 
 " At a numerous and respectable meeting which took place on 
 Tuesday, the 16th of June, your proposals were read up to the 
 meeting and approved of, with a few exceptions, it being always 
 our wish that a good understanding should exist between the master 
 shipwrights and the journeymen. 
 
 " Gentlemen, — The Society of Shipwrights has been founded on 
 upright and honest principles. Information has been given to you 
 entirely without foundation. Before the formation of our society, 
 the oppression of our brothers was great, though you invited 
 strangers to come and take the bread we so justly had a right to, 
 which drove our families to distress and poverty. 
 
 " A number of our grievances your recollection cannot forget, and 
 
 * It has not been thought necessary in the following document to preserve the 
 orthography of the original ; but (except in one or two cases where a slight change 
 seemed necessary to make It intelligible) it has in other respects been unaltered. 
 
 I I 2 
 
486 Aji Account of 
 
 in consequence of wliich we -were obliged to form ourselves together 
 to break tlirougb tjTanny and oppression. It has been from the 
 commencement of our society that vre -wished you to become friendly 
 amongst us, although we had sent circulars requesting the favour of 
 your company to dine with us on our annual day, with a hope to 
 form friendship amongst you, which would have been to the advan- 
 tage of both parties ; but instead of that, it has gone forth to the 
 world that we were more like assassins than reasonable beings. 
 Nevertheless, it is the wish of our society that all grievances should die 
 away, and that we should become as masters and men ought to be. 
 
 " 1. Your first complaint is that we have a rule amongst us that 
 if a man do more caulking than another, he is under a penalty 
 or punishment, though he can with comfort to himself do more than 
 his less industrious fellow-workman. We deny that there is such 
 a rule amongst us. We candidly inform you that lumping, some 
 years ago, became so general amongst the masters, and that under 
 a cloak, that few men were employed at a job. It was thought 
 necessary to guard against such impositions as well for the master 
 as the men. If our employers undermined each other, so that they 
 could not live by the profits, is it reasonable to think they ought to 
 have it out of the man ? It is well known to us and to you also 
 that there has been instances of vessels in the graving dock that 
 have wanted caulking, when we have not been allowed time to do 
 the vessel nor the merchant justice, to accomplish other purposes, 
 well known to you and us. It is the wish of our society that a fair 
 day's work of all description should be done by each individual, 
 agreeable to your request, only that time be allowed to do justice. 
 
 " 2. Your next objection is the alleged inattention to the bell. 
 It is the wish of the journeymen shipwrights that the bell should 
 be attended to in reason, and for the bell to ring at six o'clock in 
 the evening for leaving ofi". It shall be our study to accomjjlish 
 that point as soon as possible. 
 
 " 3. Your next complaint is that six men are sufficient to load 
 block in the room of ten. 
 
 " We will state the necessity of such a rule. Formerly, when 
 blocks were loaded by any number of men and at any period, fore- 
 men would wait for a certain set of men to finish a job ; the morning 
 following those men were sent to load and lay the blocks, when 
 other men perhaps have been walking about a week or a fortnight, 
 and at the same time those men had, as members of our society, an 
 equal right to all privileges belonging to the trade. It is your wish 
 that only six men should be employed to load blocks. We wish 
 that to be a grievance no longer ; only that ten hands should be 
 shipped in the afternoon of regulating the graving docks by the 
 master shipwright or foreman ; that is six to load blocks on regu- 
 lating day ; the remaining four to join them to lay the blocks next 
 morning and get the vessel in graving dock, &c. 
 
 " The journeymen shipwrights should wish, if possible, always the 
 blocks to be loaded the evening before going into the graving dock, 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 487 
 
 as tlie expense is so trifling, and the dirtiness of the job laying them 
 next morning, considering the whole, not worth mentioning. 
 
 " 4. Another objection you have stated, of the propriety and im- 
 propriety of not working with the sailing carpenters of ships. You 
 are all aware of its proceedings without much explanation. From 
 our commencement up to a late period you have watched us with 
 an eye of suspicion, and very probably we have done the same to 
 you. Our formation and system was and is, to live and let live. 
 It has been stated and circulated through the United Kingdom that 
 it is the enormous wages we receive that causes a decrease in the 
 shipping interest of this port. It is well known such statements 
 are false. Is not the labourer worthy of his hire ? Our wages at 
 present are As. 6d. per day; merchants, masters, and captains have 
 expressed their sentiments, that the wages are not enough to meet 
 all demands of a family, even if they got their full wages ; master 
 shipwrights seriously reflecting on loss of time between neap, rainy 
 weather, loss and wear of tools, &c., may venture to say, on an ave- 
 rage 3«. 6d. per day would be the extent of wages : in Chester Zs. 6d. 
 per day, in the North is., and in difierent parts of Ireland 4s. 6d. 
 per day, rents and provisions a good deal lower. But to return to 
 the subject. We have no objections against sailing carpenters of 
 ships who can produce a seven years' indenture to work any part of 
 the vessel, providing they remain at their own respective vessels ; 
 the grievance may be discussed on by our delegates. We agree with 
 you in respect of an understanding between both parties for the 
 future good, that at the rise and fall of wages there should be ten 
 days' notice given by each party, and five master shipwrights and 
 five journeymen appointed to meet each other, and during that period 
 to have' a fair understanding between the parties, so that we may not 
 run away with mistaken ideas. 
 
 "Another complaint you state, that if a man be sent from a job, 
 we one and all break off work. You never knew an instance of a 
 man being discharged for drunkenness and inattention that we did 
 so ; and if it was so, it was by some mistaken notions of a few indi- 
 viduals, and not known to the body. 
 
 " We cannot help remarking your candid sentiments, in allowing 
 you to elect such foremen over us that would give general satisfac- 
 tion. We never did nor wish to take that prerogative from you ; 
 we wish the master shipwrights to choose any they think proper, out 
 of the society, of decent character, as would answer as foreman, 
 whether he served his time in town or not will be agreeable. 
 
 " There is one thing that we most earnestly crave from you, that 
 we may leave off at five o'clock on Saturday afternoon and, as for- 
 merly, a man from each ship or vessel, to take each shipwright's time 
 (only on the morning of Saturday), and deliver such time into the 
 office to be under the inspection of the master or foreman, to see all 
 correct and to allow that individual time in the afternoon to get the 
 bill signed and paid at the ship ; and if in summer for each man to 
 be paid after the hour of leaving off and in winter to go round and 
 
488 An Account of 
 
 give each man his wages at his work at the ship, then we can go 
 straight home with our money which will prove a great advantage 
 to our families, the steadiest man can seldom leave a pay-table 
 before it has cost him from one to two shillings ; and I am sorry to 
 say some a great deal more, which injures the constitution and 
 breaks the Sabbath. The greatest evil that belongs to us is masters 
 and foremen keeping public-houses ; there is a demand that cannot 
 be resisted, for our trade is very fluctuating ; those that spend most 
 must be most employed, that in time it almost makes a drunkard of 
 a steady man; the thing speaks for itself, that no foreman should 
 keep a public-house-; if he did, he ought to resign either one or the 
 other ; and we hope our answer will not be found unreasonable in 
 any of our wishes. 
 
 "The journeymen shipwrights have been for a number of years 
 under the control of men not knowing the practical part of the busi- 
 ness, such as some masters, captains, mates and others, and most of the 
 quarrels that have arisen between you and us have been occasioned 
 by them. "We earnestly wish that those grievances be redressed as 
 in other regular sea-ports, to be ruled by regular masters and fore- 
 men, and that all apprentices that has and may come out of their ap- 
 prenticeship, such as masters' sons and relatives , that they become 
 members of our society, as it is the only way to effect a union 
 amongst us, and bring all things to a fair understanding between 
 you and us. 
 
 " When a vessel is under repairs we hope not to be under the con- 
 trol of captains or mates, but to be entirely under the direction of 
 masters or foremen; any dispute arising, the masters and journey- 
 men are most proper to settle it. 
 
 " Respecting introducing strangers into the town, this we would 
 readily comply with, if there were not so many apprentices out of 
 their time every year. We think there are quite sufficient in the 
 town to accomplish the work of it. At present the port is well 
 stocked with shipwrights. 
 
 " That one apprentice to three journeymen at old work, as usual, 
 except at capstans heads and making of spars, &c., — then one man 
 and one apprentice, so that he may learn his business. 
 
 " Likewise days and quarters, from five to seven o'clock, in yard 
 and graving dock, as usual, when required. 
 
 " If it be agreeable to the master shipwrights, we intend to send a 
 memorial to the licensed magistrate respecting foremen keeping 
 public-houses; we would take it as a favour of any of you that 
 would choose to have the goodness to sign it." 
 
 The master shipwrights in their reply, dated July 1st, express their 
 satisfaction at the laudable disposition shown to remove every reason- 
 able cause of complaint ; they " do not venture a doubt that in whatever 
 structure charity and benevolence compose the foundation, 'upright- 
 ness' and 'honour' are sure to constitute a part of the fabric." 
 They only lament that " such an institution should have received 
 alloy by its adoption of anything uncongenial to the avowed prin- 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 489 
 
 ciples of its first formation.'' They deny that " they at any time 
 were oppressive;" or that they at any time capriciously invited 
 strangers to come and cause " distress and poverty" to the ikmilies of 
 the Liverpool journeymen. " It is perfectly unnecessary to remind 
 the journeymen that on no occasion have strangers been solicited to 
 become their substitutes, but during those unhappy periods when 
 the resident journeymen have, either from one motive or another, de- 
 clined to do what the masters conceived was reasonable ; and when 
 misunderstandings of this nature take place, the journeymen cannot 
 but concur that no other remedy is open to the masters, but by all 
 justifiable means to procure workmen on such terms as they know 
 the trade will warrant." 
 
 After stating that even this has been done only by individuals, 
 and not by the Association as a body, the reply goes on to say that 
 merely being a resident shipwright could give a man no right to his 
 bread unless he earned it, but that so long as there was a sufficient 
 nmnber of resident shipwrights able and willing to do the work of 
 the town there was no wish to encourage others. They add that — 
 
 " The master shipwrights, in confirmation of their authority for 
 stating that an apportionment of labour has been prescribed by the 
 society of journeymen for the government of its members, have only 
 to state with that confidence which truth at all times inspires, that 
 penalties have been imposed upon individuals convicted of breaches 
 of this obnoxious understanding." 
 
 The memorial then expresses the unqualified determination of the 
 masters generally to avoid undertaking work by contract. This 
 being clearly understood must remove any impression from minds of 
 the journeymen that more is at any time required than a just and 
 reasonable day's work. 
 
 After discussing the number of men requisite to lay blocks, the 
 reply complains of the condition of seven years' apprenticeship 
 required of the ship's carpenter before he is to be allowed to work. 
 
 " In adverting to the intimation from the journeymen that it has 
 been stated and circulated throughout the United Kingdom that the 
 excessive wages paid in Liverpool had caused a decrease of work 
 in the port, the master shipwrights beg distinctly to state that they 
 have experienced individual loss, from the ascertained fact of 
 numerous vessels having left the port of Liverpool and gone else- 
 where for the purpose of receiving necessary repairs ; but the rate 
 of wages has not been the sole cause ; the various rules and regu- 
 lations adopted by the journeymen, as a society, which the owners 
 of such vessels justly held detrimental to their interest, have been 
 tlie avowed reason why they have submitted to the expense and 
 inconvenience of removing their ships." 
 
 The reply then goes on to express approbation of the proposition 
 of a specific notice being given in case of alteration of wages, &c., 
 and the master shipwrights pledge themselves, as far as they are 
 concerned, to give such notice. The Association then re-asserts the 
 right of its members to choose what foremen they think fit. 
 
490 An Account of 
 
 whether they belong to the Shipwrights' Club or not, and shows 
 conclusi^•ely the impropriety of the foreman being amenable to an 
 association of the very men whom he is to direct. The reply then 
 goes on to express sympathy with the objection to interference by the 
 captain or agent with a vessel under repairs. The masters refuse 
 to influence apprentices to join the society, "as such young men, 
 having arrived at years of discretion, should be allowed to judge for 
 themselves, without the exercise of either persuasion or compulsion." 
 
 The masters admit that at this time there is no necessity for in- 
 troducing strangers into the town ; but " the principle of proscribing 
 strangers, as a prerogative resting in the hands of the journeymen of 
 this port, is of that vital nature, that until the institutions of this 
 happy country are laid prostrate, it can never be conceded; to say that 
 the journeymen would comply with the admitting strangers to work 
 in the port, provided so many apprentices were not liberated from 
 their servitude annually, is certainly assuming the right of prevention, 
 — a right which does not rest with even the highest authorities oiihe: 
 town; and were such a right vested in any town's administration, and 
 on any occasion exercised, the words tyranny and oppression might 
 then be used without the slightest infringement of propriety." 
 
 Assent is then expressed to the condition of three men to one ap- 
 prentice on old work, and also to the rule for overtime. Finally, the 
 masters express their cordial concurrence in the remarks of the men 
 as to payment in public-houses, and also on the shortening of work by 
 one hour on Saturdays ; but on the last point, "existing prejudices in 
 interested quarters, that every similar innovation in our trade is neces- 
 sarily inflicting another wound on the shipping interest, induces the 
 master shipwrights to regret they cannot consistently concede the 
 measure." They hope, however, to satisfy the " interested parties " 
 on this point in time. The majority of masters will be glad to co- 
 operate with the journeymen in any measure which can be with 
 propriety resorted to, for the purpose of suppressing that intempe- 
 rance in drinking which is so lamentably prevalent in the trade. They 
 fear, however, that memorializing the magistrates as to foremen keep- 
 ing public-houses would be of little advantage, unless they could be 
 proved to be disorderly houses. The reply concludes thus : — 
 
 " The master shipwrights hope, from the very extended explana- 
 tion they have given of what they know it to be the duty and 
 interest of the journeymen to comply with, that this will be received 
 as final; and at the same time trusting no class of men can feel a 
 stronger disposition than themselves to promote the welfare of the 
 journeymen shipvsrights, have in conclusion merely to observe, that 
 it is impossible for them to say more, or to yield any point which 
 has come under consideration ; being guided throughout by a strict 
 attention to justice and reason." 
 
 I have given very full extracts from these documents because being 
 addressed to the respective associations, and not intended for the peru- 
 sal of third parties, they are thoroughly genuine expressions of opinion. 
 
 They appear to me to be valuable evidence of the understanding 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 491 
 
 existing between master and man at that time. On July 8th the 
 master shipwrights resolved, in consequence of the journeymen's 
 memorial, "that after the ensuing pay day, no journeymen's wages 
 shall be paid at the houses of any foreman in the trade who may 
 keep a licensed public-house or tavern." The shipwrights as a body 
 have not been considered remarkable for the virtue of temperance, 
 and this action of a trades' society, thirty six years ago, is a curious 
 comment on the common, assertion that trade societies help to 
 further intemperance. 
 
 An incident tending to illustrate the relations of the masters and 
 men, occurred in November of this year. A new shipbuilding firm 
 was established in the town, and the officers of the Shipwrights' 
 Society waited upon the masters to inquire whether they might 
 work for the new firm, stating they would refuse to work for them 
 if they were not admitted into the Masters' Association. The firm 
 was admitted upon the principal producing regular indentures of 
 apprenticeship. Early in 1825,1 find a resolution that no sawyer 
 shall be employed without a written character. About this time a 
 serious dispute seems to have arisen, owing to the journeymen having 
 evinced a disposition to lump, or contract for work, and to refuse to 
 work in the yards. On the 11th of March the shipvn-ights memo- 
 rialized the Shipowners' Association for an increase of wages from 
 4*. 6d. to 5*., which memorial was handed over to the master ship- 
 wrights, to whom it would naturally have been addressed. These latter 
 replied with some tartness that there seemed to beno suiRcient reason 
 for such an advance. Matters appear to have been in a very uncom- 
 fortable state, for the master shipwrights applied to the Mayor for 
 his advice as to inviting journeymen shipwrights from other parts. 
 The actual chief magistrate, who seems to have possessed consider- 
 ably more determination than his predecessor, concurred heartily 
 in their proposal, and stated his readiness to call in the military, 
 if necessary, to protect the new comers. A statement was accord- 
 ingly forwarded to Mr. Huskisson, then member for Liverpool, re- 
 lating their grievances pretty much in the same order as in the 
 complaint addressed to the men's club, only with considerably in- 
 creased asperity, and closing with a suggestion that the workmen 
 then being discharged from his Majesty's Dockyard should be recom- 
 mended to come to Liverpool, as the masters thought that a body 
 of some two hundred might venture to work in the town. It is 
 curious to find that one of the complaints urged is that the workmen 
 refuse to work at new work, except when paid by the piece. 
 
 Another charge is the very common, and I fear too well founded one, 
 that the journeymen are apt to take ungenerous advantage of their 
 employers when bound by penalties to fulfil a contract by a certain 
 day. On the 24th of March, the master shipwrights made a pro- 
 posal to the Shipowners' Association, that they (the master ship- 
 wrights) should pay the wages to the men engaged in repairs, 
 charging a slight commission for so doing, and being paid for the job 
 at its conclusion. The shipowners do not seem to have agreed to this. 
 
492 An Account of 
 
 The shipwrights soon after obtained the increase of wages asked for. 
 This emboldened the sawyers to demand and obtain a similar ad- 
 vance. In July, however, work became slack, and the masters, "feel- 
 ing desirous of giving employment to more men, resolved that the 
 hours of labour be reduced from one and a quarter days, to one day's 
 work each day." Throughout 1826, matters appear to have been 
 very quiet ; but early in 1 827, a serious quarrel arose between the 
 two associations. The shipping trade being much depressed in that 
 year, the masters wished to reduce the men from 5s. to 4s. per day ; 
 and on the other hand the men were desirous of meeting the diffi- 
 culty by insisting upon the employment of six men to one apprentice 
 on old work, instead of the old proportion of three to one. A strike 
 took place in the beginning of April. The masters resolved to 
 advertise for shipwrights at 4*. per day ; decided preference was to 
 be given to resident shipwrights unconnected with that "obnoxious 
 Association " the shipwrights' benefit club. Application for aid 
 was made to the chief magistrate, in anticipation of excesses and 
 breaches of the peace, " so that strangers disposed to accept employ- 
 ment in the port, might be assured of the most secure and ample 
 protection." Foremen were also assured of aid and protection " as 
 well with reference to their present circumstances, as to any reverse 
 situation in which their allegiance to their present employers might 
 hereafter place them." 
 
 Shipwrights coming to work in Liverpool were promised that, 
 should they sustain personal injury from the attacks of the resident 
 journeymen shipwrights, provision should be made for them, their 
 wives and families, out of the funds of the Association. 
 
 Members of the Shipbuilders' Association, who were also members 
 of the Journeymen Shipwrights' Society, were desired to transmit in 
 writing their retirement from the latter, and their determination not 
 hereafter to contribute to the funds of that society. And a letter 
 was addressed to Mr. Huskisson requesting him to withdraw his 
 name as an honorary member of it. I find a vote of censure upon 
 one shipbuilder for declaring his intention to act independently, and 
 upon another for irregularity in attending the meetings. 
 
 Upon the 20th of April, it was resolved, that no journeymen 
 be engaged, even at the proposed rate of wages, unless they give 
 " the most satisfactory evidence" of " having no longer any con- 
 nexion (either directly or indirectly) with the Shipwrights' Society 
 as at present constituted." 
 
 Then follows a resolution which shows that the masters attribute 
 their difficulties with their men, to some extent, to the political 
 character of the organization. " Resolved that, in the master ship- 
 builders' establishments situated within the borough, no apprentice 
 be indentured for a period exceeding six and a half years, to 
 prevent as far as possible the increase of freemen in our particular 
 branch of business ; and that sons of freemen be uniformly rejected 
 as apprentices." The masters also attempted to get up a rival 
 benefit society to be called the " Artisans' Friend Society," and the 
 Mayor was requested to become the first honorary member of it, though 
 
Shipwrights' Traded Societies. 493 
 
 whether he consented does not appear, nor whether the society was 
 successful or not. A deputation was sent to Greenock to offer work 
 at 4s. 6d. per day to shipwrights there ; and in consequence of 
 threats and breaches of the peace, the Mayor was requested to 
 station soldiers near the graving docks, in which work was being 
 carried on. Nor does it appear that this was at all unnecessary, as 
 upon the 8th of June, an assault having been committed on a 
 member of the Masters' Association, a reward of £20 was offered 
 for the apprehension of the offender. Meanwhile, attempts were 
 being made to accommodate the dispute. The Shipwrights' Society 
 requested an interview, which was refused on the ground that the 
 Masters' Association would no longer recognise the Shipwrights' 
 Society. Upon the 23rd of May, the shipowners proposing to mediate 
 between the masters and journeymen, the former requested that any 
 offer to the journeymen might be previously made known to them, 
 " as the natural parties from whom any negotiation in the matters at 
 issue should proceed," and " since any terms entered into with the 
 journeymen by any parties but the masters themselves, must have 
 the effect of lessening the just authority of the masters over the men." 
 
 On the 24th of May, the president of the Journeymen Ship- 
 wrights' Society wrote, offering on the part of the journeymen to 
 work at the rate of 4s. 6d. per day, " provided the master ship- 
 wrights would employ six journeymen for every apprentice they might 
 employ at old work." This offer was declined, although, on the 
 9th of June, the journeymen shipwrights having expressed an 
 earnest desire for a personal interview with the master shipwrights, 
 the latter consented. This appears to have led to negotiations which 
 terminated favourably, for upon the 20th of the same month, I find 
 that the following resolution was adopted : — 
 
 The journeymen shipwrights "having subscribed a written declara- 
 tion as to their future conduct in the prosecution of the work of the 
 port," the masters on their parts undertook " to consider the rate of 
 wages for the present to be 4s. Qd. per day,'' on which no advance or 
 reduction should take place without ten days' notice being given. It 
 was further agreed, August 6th, to print the terms which the journey- 
 men shipwrights had subscribed, with the names of the subscribers ; 
 the same to be furnished to each shipbuilder's firm in the port. 
 
 This seems to have closed the strike generally, but some slight 
 insubordination appears to have been shown afterwards ; for on 
 September 13th I find resolutions to the following effect : — 
 
 1. Some journeymen shipwrights showing a disposition to break 
 through the terms of the compact between themselves and the 
 masters, a list of these offenders is to be furnished to each firm, and 
 no foreman allowed to employ any one of them, on any account ; and 
 
 2. Until all the members of the " Artisans' Friend Society " have 
 been employed, no others are to be taken on : strangers (who worked 
 during the disturbance) to be preferred to resident journeymen. 
 
 Between this time and 1834 I find nothing remarkable, except the 
 following resolution, dated 1828 : — 
 
 " The expenses incurred in prosecuting or discharging the appren- 
 
494 An Account of 
 
 tices, who (contrary to tlie orders of their masters, members of this 
 society) absented themselves from duty on the 29th of May, shall be 
 borne by the Masters' Association." 
 
 A resolution was passed in the same year to renew the deed of asso- 
 ciation, which expired on the 16th of October. On the 1st of May, 
 1834, the society was reconstituted, nominally, for the prosecution of 
 felons and prevention of felonies. During the years 1835-6 there 
 seem to have been sundry differences of opinion as to wages, &c., but 
 noneof any particular moment, until a question arose as to the journey- 
 men agreeing to some rules which they were not disposed to accept. 
 On the 12th of October, 1836, the following resolution was passed: — 
 
 "In consequence of the journeymen shipwrights having refused 
 to sign the regulations recently agreed upon (unless through the 
 Shipwrights' Club) — this information we received from a set of indi- 
 viduals calling themselves a deputation from the body of shipwrights 
 (which we very much doubt) — it was resolved that after this day no 
 journeyman shall be employed until he has obtained a ticket from a 
 committee, consisting of four of the master shipbuilders who shall be 
 chosen to examine the claim of each man, who if he can produce an 
 indenture of seven years' apprenticeship, or a satisfactory certificate 
 that he has served his lawful apprenticeship, or that he has worked 
 for the last five years in Liverpool as an acknowledged journeyman, 
 he shall then be allowed to sign the regulations ; and further resolved 
 that the following rules be added to those already printed : — 
 
 " ' I do hereby declare that I have renounced all connexion with 
 the Liverpool shipwrights' trade club, and agree to withdraw aU 
 support either directly or indirectly from any such society.' " 
 
 Here we have a counterpart to all intents and purposes of the 
 famous declaration of the building strike of 1860. This resolution 
 was followed up on the 24th of October by the following : — 
 
 " That when all the journeymen shall have signed the regulations, 
 books shall be printed containing the name, number, &c., of each man, 
 and copies of each be delivered to each member of this society." 
 
 Upon signing these regulations, I am informed that each man 
 received a ticket, a copy of which was shown to me. It contained 
 the man's number, his name, a rough woodcut of two joined hands, 
 and the signature of two masters. This step appears to have had 
 some temporary eifect in breaking up the trade clubs ; but in July, 
 1838, information was given to the Masters' Association, by Mr. 
 Thompson, secretary of the " Shipwrights' Sick Club," " that the 
 sick club consists of from 200 to 300 members, and that within the 
 last three months there have been certain steps taken to induce the 
 members of the sick club to join one for trade purposes." On the 24th 
 of January, 1839, the Masters' Association received notice of a rise 
 of wages, from 4s. 6d. to 5s., which was at once cheerfully acceded to. 
 On the 2nd of April in the same year, it was resolved that a bond 
 should be drawn up, "with a penalty of ten pounds from any member 
 who may sign it, if it may be proved he has taken an apprentice 
 who has left another em23loy without a written discharge from his 
 late master." 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 495 
 
 On the 1 st of September a meeting of the operative shipwrights 
 was held in their large room, Bond Street, "in order to consider the 
 rules and regulations of the trade as at present amended by the 
 masters, and also to consider the just right of men belonging to 
 Liverpool to employment in preference to strangers, this mode being 
 adopted in all the seaports of Great Britain and Ireland, Liverpool 
 excepted." The speakers at ,this meeting declared that if the mer- 
 chants knew their own interest they would go hand in hand with the 
 men against the apprenticeship system, as they asserted the mas-^ 
 ters charged the same wages for an apprentice who had not been 
 more than a week at the trade as for a regular journeyman. Upon 
 a report of this meeting appearing in the papers, the masters met, 
 and a letter was addressed to the journeymen shipwrights, demanding 
 retractation or proof of this assertion, which was declared to be false. 
 On 12th of November another meeting of the journeymen shipwrights 
 was held in their room in Bond Street to consider the formation of 
 an association, the objects of which would be to protect the trade 
 and to resist all encroachments from interested parties. Amongst 
 other resolutions, one was passed appointing a committee to reply to 
 the calumnies of the masters, and a second recommending the rais- 
 ing of a subscription to defray the expenses of the trial of the ship- 
 wrights committed to prison. Another resolution advised that all 
 heartburnings about politics and religion should cease. The speakers 
 also insisted that "What they wanted was preference of employment 
 in the town in which they had served their time ; and after that, if 
 there were any employment for strangers, they had no objection 
 to their working in the town." From the allusion to the shipwrights 
 in prison, as well as from a notice issued by the masters, stating that 
 " Several journeyman shipwrights have been by sundry riotous and 
 disorderly individuals obstructed in the execution of their lawful 
 duty, and by threats or violence compelled to relinquish their work," 
 it appears that some disturbances had taken place, owing to ship- 
 wrights working who had not served their time in the town. How 
 this affair terminated does not appear, but until 26th of April, 
 1844,* nothing of any importance seems to have occurred. In that 
 month the present existing association of journeymen shipwrights 
 was established, and soon after negotiations occurred between the 
 two associations upon the question of wages and rules. How these 
 terminated does not distinctly appear. From this time the masters 
 seem to have addressed the secretary upon all occasions when the 
 men struck work upon ship. The first occasion arose out of machine- 
 punched copper being sent down to an American ship, September, 
 1844. The masters requested that a deputation of journeymen 
 would meet them to discuss the matter with them. How the inter- 
 view terminated does not appear. On other occasions the alleged 
 breach of the 18th rule between the masters and men was the 
 
 * Erroneously stated to be 24th of May, by Mill, in his evidence before the 
 Council in 1850. 
 
496 An Account of 
 
 subject of complaint. This rule provided " That any man who 
 can produce an indenture or a satisfactory certificate that he has 
 served his lawful apprenticeship of seven years, or who shall already 
 have worked for five years as a journeyman in this port, will be allowed 
 to sign these rules, without which he cannot be employed." The men 
 would not admit men who had served their time out of Liverpool to 
 work. This 18th rule is a constant source of discussion down to the 
 present day. In November I find that the men employed on the 
 repairs of a ship having quarreled with their foremen and struck, 
 were ordered to return to work by the club, and a letter of thanks 
 was addressed in consequence to the secretary. 
 
 At a meeting of the Shipbuilders' Association, 19th December, 
 1845, the Shipbuilders' Association, in consequence of a memorial 
 having been presented to the chairman from a number of journeymen, 
 who stated that they were unable to obtain employment in conse- 
 quence of the Shipwrights' Club refusing to work with them, a 
 deputation of the whole committee of the journeymen were sum- 
 moned to meet the masters on the subject, and were then informed 
 that they (the masters) must insist on all men who have duly served 
 a seven years' apprenticeship in any part of the United Kingdom 
 being allowed to work without molestation. 
 
 In consequence of the above memorial, the indentures of twenty- 
 two journeymen were examined and found to be correct. 
 
 On February 16th, 1846, the following circular was issued : — 
 
 " To the Shipbuilders, Merchants, and Captains of Great Britain. 
 
 " G-ENTLEMEN", — We beg leave to inform you of a society of ship- 
 wrights, called the National Shipwrights^ Friendly Society. This 
 society consists of men who have served their legal apprenticeship to 
 the trade in all parts of the United Kingdom ; and we are compelled 
 to distinguish ourselves from the Liverpool shipwrights, because they 
 will not work with us ; and their laws would compel us to work for 
 none but whom they thought proper, not leaving it in the power of 
 shipbuilders, merchants, or captains to employ what workmen they 
 please. Our object in thus uniting ourselves together is to obtain 
 employment for our members, and protect ourselves from the unjust 
 oppression we have hitherto sufiered from the Liverpool shipwrights, 
 and to perform any job you may be kind enough to honour us with, 
 independent of them, which, on account of our former scattered 
 position, we were unable to do. All our members are bound to do a 
 fair day's work for the usual wages of the port. "Whoever you may 
 please to appoint to the overlooking of your repairs, we pledge our- 
 selves to obey, and do your work with justice to you and honour to 
 ourselves." 
 
 I do not know whether it was upon this or the previous occasion 
 that a list of eighty-three names (of men most of whom had served 
 seven years' apprenticeship) was handed in to the masters as be- 
 longing to this association. 
 
 It will perhaps not be out of place to mention, as a symptom of 
 
Shipwrights' Trades^ Societies. 497 
 
 the feeling between masters and men, that on the occasion of Prince 
 Albert's laying the first stone of the Sailors' Home in July, 1846, 
 £100 was voted as a present to the journeymen shipwrights, to enable 
 them to get up a procession of the whole trade, " on a handsome 
 scale." 
 
 In November, I find the journeymen seeking an interview with the 
 masters in order to complain of the "inefiicient manner in which 
 some of the vessels are repaired at this port." 
 
 The interview appears to have taken place, but I can find no par- 
 ticulars of the result. In February, 1848, the foremen complained 
 to the masters of compulsion being used to make them join the Ship- 
 wrights' Club, and they were advised to form an Association of their 
 own, which from subsequent notices it appears that they did. 
 
 In March the question of the 18th rule came up again, and the 
 masters signed a declaration, protesting against the " oppressive and 
 illegal conduct pursued by the journeymen shipwrights of this port, 
 in not allowing men who have duly served their seven years' appren- 
 ticeship to the trade to obtain employment, because they do not 
 belong to the shipwrights' trade club." This declaration was appa- 
 rently agreed upon in consequence of a letter from the National Ship- 
 builders' Association, thanking the Masters' Association for their 
 patronage, and announcing that the Liverpool Club was disposed to 
 admit some of their members ; but they looked upon this rather as an 
 attempt to break up the association than any approach to real liberal- 
 ity. They add : "In conclusion. Gentlemen, we beg to state that, by our 
 connexion with societies in other ports, we are prepared to obtain any 
 reasonable number of men, viz. from thirty to fifty weekly, should 
 circumstances require it. Gentlemen, we again thank you from our 
 hearts, and again express our hope you will not wish us to join the 
 Liverpool Club, but leave us to serve you as workmen not having the 
 fear of being fined for doing justice to our employers." The Liver- 
 pool Club determined to carry out their own views, and, in conse- 
 quence of the disturbed state of the country, it was deemed not wise 
 and prudent to proceed to extremities at that time. 
 
 In 1850, a committee was appointed by the Town Council to 
 inquire into the state of shipbuilders in Liverpool. The secretary of 
 the Shipbuilders' Society, who was examined, acknowledged that the 
 club at that time would not admit any shipwrights who had served 
 seven years in other places than Liverpool. There were great com- 
 plaints, both by masters and men, of the decline of shipbuilding in 
 Liverpool, and of the consequent deterioration of shipwrights, as they 
 did not consider that the same class of workmen could be reared in 
 repairing yards only. The reason alleged for this decline was the 
 constant removals to which the tenants of yards had been subjected. 
 1857 passed ofi" quietly, except that one of the masters had a dispute 
 with his shipjoiners (not shipwrights), and it was resolved (a list of 
 the names of such men having been given in) not to employ any of 
 the same until the dispute was accommodated, and also that the firm 
 should be assisted by other employers with apprentice-joiners. 
 
498 An Account of 
 
 In the spring of 1852, a sub-committee was appointed to revise 
 the rules between the masters and men, technically known as the 
 sheet rules. In the correspondence with the Shipwrights' Club 
 various alterations are suggested by the secretary to the Club ; but 
 the chief objections appear to have been to the 11th rule : — 
 
 " To the rule which you have inserted respecting strangers being 
 allowed to work, I say that no man can prevent them working if 
 they can get employed ; but I want to know if you can force me to 
 work with a man that I have conscientious objections to work with ? 
 Under this impression I ask you to withdraw the rule." 
 
 A meeting was hold of masters and men, in the course of which 
 a question was put to the deputation as to the rule prohibiting 
 strangers working in the port. It was answered by one of them,' that 
 although the law of the land permitted all who had served seven 
 years' apprenticeship to their trade to get employment in any port, 
 yet he was perfectly justified in refusing to work with them. A ques- 
 tion was put to the secretary, whether it was true that he had sent 
 to Dublin for a number of shipwrights. The secretary stated, that 
 owing to the great demand for labour in Liverpool they had received 
 a communication from the shipwrights of Dublin, requesting to be 
 allowed to come to work at this jjort, and that a certain number of 
 the said men were now working in the wet and graving docks. A 
 question being put to the men relating to the number of feet of 
 caulking which they considered a fair day's work, they stated that 
 from 90 to 120 feet, according to circumstances, was considered a 
 fair day's work. How the matter was ultimately settled will appear 
 by the following document: — 
 
 " At a conference between the Shipowners' Association and the 
 Master Shipwrights and Journeymen Shipwrights, it was determined 
 by both masters and men to leave various disputed rules between 
 them to the arbitration of four gentlemen, two to be chosen by the 
 masters and two by the men, together with the chairman of the Ship- 
 owners' Association. 
 
 " The gentlemen chosen were- 
 
 Mr. John LoCKETT, | By the Masters. 
 
 Mr. S. R. Graves, J ^ 
 
 Mr.J.P.PALMEK, 1 By the Men. 
 
 Mr. J. A. ToBiN, J •^ 
 
 and Mr. R. Rankin, as chairman of the Shipowners' Association,, 
 who, having met and considered the statements of 
 
 ^r- Cato, President, | ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^, ^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 Mr. MiLLEE, Secretary, J 
 
 Mr'Si'LT'serreTar'''''*' } Of the Shipwrights' Association, 
 who were accompanied by Mr. M'Kay and Mr. Harrison, came to 
 the following Resolutions : — 
 
 "Rule 1. That the wages of journeymen throughout the port be 
 5s. per day ; and all overtime, between the hours of four o'clock in 
 the morning and eight o'clock at night, be paid at the rate of 9c?. 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 499 
 
 per hour ; and between the hours of eight o'clock at night and four 
 o'clock in the morning, Is. 3rf. per hour be paid ; in all cases the full 
 hour to bo paid for where the quarter has been passed, but for any 
 time under the quarter-hour no charge to be made. 
 
 "Rule 2. That for work done at vessels in the river, \s. per day- 
 be paid extra. 
 
 "Rule 3. That for tide's work, on the beach or grid iron, the wages 
 be 6s. per tide ; and on the Clarence dry grid iron, Qs. per day when 
 dry, otherwise 5s. per tide. The tide means, in the Clarence dry 
 grid iron, from tide leaving vessels until two hours before high water. 
 
 "Rule 4. That for vessels stranded beyond the Rock Perch, the 
 wages be Qs. per tide, and the men be provided with victuals. 
 
 " Rule 5. That for unshoring, getting bilge shores and caps to the 
 yard, each man to receive half a day's pay. 
 
 " Rule 6. That each man actually employed in coating vessels in 
 the graving dock be paid 6c?. extra for each vessel, and on the grid 
 irons, \s. 
 
 " Rule 7. That all wages incurred on Sundays, Christmas Day, and 
 Good Friday be charged double. 
 
 " Rule 8. That payment of wages shall commence immediately after 
 five o'clock in the summer, and after dark in the winter, at the office 
 of the master ; and on no consideration whatever are the men to be 
 paid in the public-house. 
 
 " Rule 9. That a day's work shall be from six in the morning until 
 six at night, between the 1st of March and the 10th of October, both 
 inclusive ; and at other periods of the year (except December and 
 January) from daylight to dark ; and half an hour shall be allowed 
 for breakfast, and an hour and a half for dinner, from the 1st of 
 March to the 10th of October, both inclusive ; and half an hour for 
 hreakfast, and an hour for dinner, from the 10th of October to the 1st 
 of March, excepting the months of December and January, when the 
 day's work is to commence at eight o'clock, the men breakfasting 
 previously. 
 
 "Rule 10. That the number of hands employed for shoring vessels 
 in the graving dock be six for vessels not exceeding 150 tons ; eight 
 from 150 tons to 300 tons ; ten, from 300 tons to 800 tons ; twelve, 
 from 800 tons to 1,300 tons; fourteen, from 1,300 tons to 1,800 tons; 
 and sixteen, for all above. 
 
 "Rule 11. That in all cases in which the docking and shoring of a 
 ship is commenced and completed out of the regular working hours 
 of the day, the men shall be entitled to one and a half day's pay ; but 
 when the said docking and shoring breaks into the regular working 
 hours of the day, the men to be paid according to Rule 1 . 
 
 " Rule 12. That any man who can produce an indenture or a satis- 
 factory certificate that he has served seven years to the trade in any 
 port of the United Kingdom, shall be allowed to work in this port for 
 any master who may engage him. 
 
 " Rule 13. That the number of apprentices employed shall not exceed 
 the proportion of one to three journeymen. 
 
 K K 
 
500 An Account oj 
 
 *'Rule 14. That no man shall in any way be restricted as to the 
 amount of caulking or other work which he shall accomplish during 
 the day ; but in all cases the principle of ' a fair day's work for a fair 
 day's wages ' be faithfully and honourably carried out. 
 
 "Rule 15. When a ship is regulated for, and, by some unforeseen 
 circumstance, is prevented going into the graving dock, the men in 
 attendance are to be paid for their lost time. 
 
 " Rule 16. That it be fully understood that the above rules apply to 
 the graving and wet docks only, and not to the ship, boat-building 
 and repairing yards, except Rules No. 1, 7, 8, 9, 12, and 14, which 
 apply to all. 
 
 "John Lockett, Chairman. 
 
 " And the Shipbuilders' Association hereby give notice, that the 
 above Rules and Regulations will be strictly adhered to on and after 
 December 1st, 1852. 
 
 " Peter Cato, President 
 " W. C. Miller, Secretary." 
 
 It is very questionable whether the men ever adhered to the 12th 
 rule ; at any rate, if they did, there is no doubt that they ceased to 
 do so. 
 
 Some complaints were made, as often had been done before, that 
 apprentices left their masters in many cases, not having been duly 
 indentured, and it was resolved, "that no employer should take an 
 apprentice from any establishment unless a note of his time be pro- 
 duced at the time of his application." In the next year I find that 
 besides the three associations connected with the shipwrights, namely, 
 masters, foremen, and journeymens' associations, there was a fourth, 
 viz., an apprentices' association, of which the only trace is a 
 notice to the masters of a wish on their part for an advance of 
 allowances. The want of shipwrights was felt in the spring of 1853, 
 and the shipowners' society communicated the following resolution to 
 the Master Shipwrights' Association. 
 
 " Resolved unanimously, — That in the opinion of this meeting 
 there are not sufficient shipwrights in this port for the work of the 
 port, and that it is highly expedient that a number of shipwrights 
 should be imported from other ports. That it is strongly recommended 
 by the master shipwrights, to import strangers, and to employ them 
 in conjunction with the local shipwrights, on the same terms, so long 
 as they are not interfered with in their work by the local ship- 
 wrights, but whenever that interference takes place, then to employ 
 the strangers exclusively." 
 
 I have not any documents relating to Master Shipwrights' Asso- 
 ciations later than 1853, excepting a letter in 1859 from the Ship- 
 owners' Association suggesting a reduction of wages. In 1856, an 
 attempt was made to consolidate the shipwrights' unions of different 
 ports of the country, and a meeting was held at the Belvidere 
 Tavern, Islington, London, 23 to 27 June inclusive, at which were 
 present representatives from the following ports. 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 501 
 
 No. of So. in 
 
 Delegates. Xame ot Port. Names of Kepresentatives. Society. 
 
 5 London T. Marr, H. Frederick, H. Powell, Jas. 
 
 Ayles, T. Fiddes 2,246 
 
 2 Liverpool Wm. Neill, Mich. Lynch 1,790 
 
 2 Sunderland George Gamsby, John Burn 1,170 
 
 3 South Shields G. Dempster, J. Bell, J. Ridley 600 
 
 1 Monkwearmouth W. Kohson 600 
 
 2 Glasgowand Dumbarton Edw. Campbell, James Guthrie 700 
 
 3 Newcastle J. Ridley, H. Blair, J. Teasdale 350 
 
 2 Hull Adam Lyons, James Plummer 438 
 
 1 Hylton Ralph Kirtley 286 
 
 2 Dundee. Robert Bell, John M'Dougall 805 
 
 2 North Shields Wm. Campbell, Thos. Ridley 230 
 
 2 Hartlepool Henry Richardson, — Carter 203 
 
 1 Whitby ; George Franks, jun 167 
 
 1 Whitehaven & Harrington ..Thomas Mageen 180 
 
 1 Howden Thomas Barrett 126 
 
 Blyth 
 
 1 Workington James Donaghy 125 
 
 1 Dublin James Bourke 108 
 
 1 Cardiff William Griffith 104 
 
 1 Stockton William Davison 100 
 
 1 Swansea ; John Crole .: 100 
 
 1 Middlesboro' Edward Hutton 82 
 
 1 Northwich Thomas Molynenx 51 
 
 1 Maiyport Borthwick Dobie 112 
 
 1 Gloucester John Hipwood 47 
 
 1 Runcorn Robert Royle 60 
 
 1 Ipswich Richard Hill 45 
 
 1 Goole Thomas Readshaw 40 
 
 1 Great Grimsby John Archer 34 
 
 4 Newport (Mon.) Thomas Mock 85 
 
 2 Belfast Nathaniel Robinson, — Rankin 152 
 
 3 Greenock Geo. Parker, John M'Dougall, E. Boyce 650 
 
 Perth ... 40 
 
 2 Bristol S. Drake, D. Bird 360 
 
 Aberdeen 80 
 
 54 Total number of Members represented 11,766 
 
 At this meeting the following resolutions were agreed to among 
 others -.-^ 
 
 " 1 . That this society be called the ' United Kingdom Amalgamated 
 Society of Shipwrights.' 
 
 " 2. That the object of this Union be to afford protection to its 
 members, and to introduce into our trade such ameliorations as the 
 increasing intelligence of the age demands. 
 
 "9. That the journeymen shipwrights of Scotland be accepted as 
 a portion of the Amalgamated Society ; also those persons who may, 
 during the ensuing five years, complete their apprenticeship; but 
 from" and after the 1st of January, 1856, it will be an indispensable 
 qualification for all persons intending to become members of this 
 Society to serve a legal apprenticeship of seven years. 
 
 "14. That the system of journeymen receiving footings from 
 apprentices is highly reprehensible, and that the system of intro 
 ducing adults as apprentices should for the future be discontinued. 
 
 K K 2 
 
502 An Account of 
 
 " 17. That it is the opinion of this meeting that the members of 
 every port in connexion with the Amalgamated Society of Ship- 
 wrights of the United Kingdom, shall use every possible means in 
 their power to keep their members in their own port, so as to prevent 
 a greater supply of labour being introduced into any port than the 
 market demands, and by so doing it will create a feeling of reci- 
 procity, which the Amalgamated Society so earnestly desires. 
 
 " 22. That it is the opinion of this meeting that any attempt of the 
 Legislature to establish arbitration courts, cannot fail to be pro- 
 ductive of injurious consequences to the shipwrights of the United 
 Kingdom." 
 
 The whole of the proceedings were published in a small pamphlet, 
 together with some extracts from " Eules and Regulations of the 
 Glasgow Shipwrights' Society, instituted 1st March, 1853," which, 
 it may be supposed, were thought worthy of adoption or imitation, 
 among which were the following : — 
 
 "Article 34. Expulsion from Society for feigning sick, or getting 
 to ill-health from intemperance. 
 
 "Article 36. Expulsion ^for theft, esiJeciaUy of tools, or other 
 felonious conduct. 
 
 " Article 37. Shipwrecked members to be supplied with tools to 
 the value of two pounds. 
 
 " Article 38. Any members of this Society employed at ship-car- 
 penter's work, having joiners or any others than shipwrights with 
 them as assistants at said work, must discontinue the same on 
 receiving notice from the secretary to that effect, or be liable to 
 be fined or expelled at the discretion of the Society." 
 
 " Article 39. No infringement of existing privileges must be tole- 
 rated, nor reduction of wages accepted by any member of this Society, 
 without a decision of the Society to that effect. 
 
 " Article 40. In case of dispute with masters, any member not 
 acting in conformity with the resolutions passed at a general meeting 
 of the members, may be expelled from the Society. 
 
 "Article 41. Expelled members forfeit benefits and contribu- 
 tions." * 
 
 The Liverpool Club, however, did not long remain in connexion 
 with this Association, but severed from them on the ground that 
 they allowed members of their body, whose work was slack in other 
 jjarts, to come, in search of work, to Liverpool. 
 
 With regard to the present condition of the associations, the 
 Liverpool Committee on Trades' Societies examined two delegates of 
 the Shipwrights' Committee and one of the employers, whose answers 
 were given in the presence and under the correction of a repre- 
 sentative of the Shipwrights' Association. According to the evidence 
 of the Shipwrights' Association, the law requiring a man to serve 
 seven years' apprenticeship in Liverpool was still (27th February, 
 1860) in force. " We don't allow our men to work with men from 
 other towns, unless they hai-e served seven years in this town." 
 
 * The italics in the extracts are in t)ie original pamphlet. 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 603 
 
 The advantages were stated to be : — "Men being associated together, 
 have a check upon each other; they won't allow bad work. We 
 consider it part of the duty of members to prevent each other 
 slimming work, when, if the men were not associated, this (prevent- 
 ing bad work) could not be done. In our trade a man lives all his 
 life in the town where he serves his time, except when he goes to 
 sea. We have fines for swearing, drinking, &c. ; in such cases we 
 have an unwritten law which is generally observed. We fine as 
 occasion arises. If a man is convicted of felony, he expels himself, 
 but the Society may soften the sentence. We cannot fine a man 
 unless there is a printed rule, but we can reduce the fine." As to 
 wages, the following evidence was given : — " We suppose all to per- 
 form the same work, and be worth the same wage. We should not 
 object to a man getting more, but should ask equal wages to him. 
 We did not ask for higher wages during the time of high wages about 
 four years ago, but the masters bid against each other for our labour. 
 One man was given higher wages, and of course we considered we 
 were equally worth the same, but we neve» asked for higher wages 
 until they had already been given. We have been much misrepre- 
 sented in that respect. We did not ride in cabs and spring-carts for 
 our own convenience, but for that of our masters. Often, payment 
 for overtime was spoken of as part of our ordinary daily wage. On 
 the Arctic we worked till ten o'clock at night, and were at work 
 at four again in the morning, and of course got higher wages in 
 consequence. 
 
 "Wages always have been advanced without our asking it. That 
 is, our masters ask us to work overtime, and of course pay us for 
 that. I don't remember getting more than 7«. for ten hours, but we 
 have worked very long hours. 
 
 "At old work we only allow one apprentice to three men, but in a 
 building yard there is no such limit. In this town there is very 
 little wooden shipbuilding ; much less than formerly. There is no 
 proper ground, it is taken for docks. 
 
 "We have never had any turn-outs for many years; it has never 
 come under my notice that a non-society man has come to work with 
 us. Our apprenticeship system is not kept up in its integrity quite. 
 Men serve seven years, but have no indentures to show. They get 
 a note from their employers to say they have served seven years. 
 Ships are almost entirely built by apprentices. 
 
 " There is a trade fund and benefit society, but the funds are 
 distinct; there are about 340 in the benefit society, and 1,700 in the 
 trade. None but members of the trade society are admitted to the 
 benefit society. 
 
 "We don't allow piecework or lumping, because some parties 
 would get the largest portion of the work, and others would get none. 
 
 " We were connected with the Shipping Trade Association of this 
 town, but have found it better to be entirely independent." 
 
 The evidence of the employer is as follows : — " We employ from 
 100 to 300, society men entirely; there are two or three who employ 
 
504 An Account of 
 
 exclusively non-society men. As long as we could do it peaceably, 
 we gave employment, now and then, to non-society men ; but we 
 received notice we must give up the one or the other, and were 
 obliged to abandon employing non-society men. We have found 
 ourselves prevented from introducing improved processes of manu- 
 facture, to a small extent; treenails turned by machinery, and copper 
 punched by machinery, are not allowed in graving docks. The 
 argument against machine-made treenails, and machine-punclied 
 copper is, that turning treenails, ' and punching copper, employs old 
 and disabled men, who thus get the same wages to the end of their 
 days. In the building yards, these restrictions do not apply. "We 
 have never been interfered witli as regards wages. The wages are 
 fixed by mutual agreement. I think the workmen who chiefly belong 
 to, or are active in, the trade society, belong to the higher class; but 
 I cannot give any very distinct opinion upon the subject. We never 
 attempted to introduce piecework, it would be difficult to apply it. 
 When there is a demand, I think the workmen could secure a fair 
 rise of wages without combination, but I think the combination 
 prevents a reduction in idle time. For instance, in the last few 
 years I think wages would have fallen much lower if it had not 
 been for the Union. We have seven years' apprenticeship; only one 
 apprentice is allowed to three men at old work, but we are not 
 interfered with in the kind of work they may do. I think the 
 eiJect of combination is to equalize wages, and to keep them steady. 
 I think it has sometimes kept them down as well as up, in fact, 
 prevented fluctuations of wages. In 1854 wages got up to 8s. per 
 day, which was simply the result of the competition of the masters 
 to obtain the services of the men. I don't think the trade has been 
 materially affected by the Union. The building part of the trade is 
 not subjected to the action of the Union, as private yards are free 
 from the rules which prevail in graving docks, but the building trade 
 has been driven from Liverpool by the want of accommodation. I 
 think the effect upon the moral character of the men of the Union 
 is rather beneficial than otherwise. 
 
 " It is a singular fact, that I never knew a shipwright detected in 
 stealing copper, though they have great opportunity of doing so ; 
 and though, taking the usual average, such cases might probably 
 occur ; and I cannot attribute this to anything but the action of the 
 Society." In answer to the question as to what evils arise from 
 trade societies : — " Some years ago, having previously used the 
 old-fashioned bellows, we put up very expensive machinery, when a 
 rule was made by the ship smiths that the iron knees should be 
 charged by the piece at the same rate whether made by the old- 
 fashioned bellows or by machinery, so that the profit derived from 
 the capital invested in machinery was to a great extent lost, though 
 the power of turning out work more rapidly was of course a great 
 advantage. I think the working of the apjirenticeship system is 
 most desirable in securing good workmen ; were there no such 
 system, we should have a very inferior class." 
 
Shipwrights^ Traded Societies. 505 
 
 From inquiries elsewliere, I am disposed to believe that the 
 number of shipwrights at present in Liverpool, unconnected with 
 the Liverpool Club, is about 300. What proportion of those are in 
 connexion with the "United Kingdom Amalgamated Society," I 
 have been unable to learn, and the latter society has refused to give 
 us any information. The secretary of the Liverpool Club informed 
 the Committee that he believed there were about 1,700 in February, 
 1860 ; there had been about 1,900, but there had been a great many 
 deaths lately, and there were more Liverpool shipvsTights aboard 
 men of war than ever was known. It may be desirable, as far as 
 possible, to compare the number of shipwrights and the tonnage 
 paying dock dues in the port since 1820. 
 
 
 Number of 
 
 Kumber of 
 
 ifumber 
 
 Tonnage. 
 
 
 Shipwrights' Club. 
 
 Apprentices. 
 
 of Vessels. 
 
 1820 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 7,277 
 
 805,033 
 
 1824 
 
 837 
 
 290 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 1840 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 15,998 
 
 2,445,708 
 
 *1844 
 
 1,500 
 
 (?) 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 1850 
 
 1,592 
 
 610 (?) 
 
 20,457 
 
 8,536,337 
 
 1856 
 
 1,790 
 
 (?) 
 
 20,886 
 
 4,.320,618 
 
 1859 
 
 — . 
 
 
 21,214 
 
 4,511,969 
 
 tl860 
 
 1,700 
 
 n 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 There are the non-society men, who are not reckoned here, and 
 who are, as before mentioned, estimated at present at 300, but I 
 have no data for estimating their numbers at any previous period. 
 
 Li conclusion, I have only to state that my sole duty has been to 
 arrange the facts which I have been able to procure, and not to make 
 deductions from them. I would simply point out that the very peculiar 
 nature of the trade, as explained at the commencement of this 
 account, renders great care necessary in making any generalizations 
 from those facts. My best thanks are due to Mr. Caleb Smith, 
 present, and Mr. Charles Grayson, former secretary of the Master 
 Shipwrights' Association ; and also to Messrs. Hough, Williams, and 
 Caxton, secretary and representatives of the operatives' association, 
 and to various other friends who have aiforded valuable information. 
 
 SHIPWRIGHTS OF THE TYNE. 
 
 About the shipwrights of other places than Liverpool, the infor- 
 mation received is very imperfect, as the Amalgamated Shipwrights' 
 Association have decided that it is wiser for them not to give the 
 Committee any. The shipwrights of the Tyne have, however, been 
 less reserved, and have sent a series of answers, of which the sub- 
 stance will be hereafter given. Before the committee of 1825, on 
 combinations, a number of witnesses were examined, belonging to 
 this branch of industry, and the following is the substance of the 
 evidence gathered upon that occasion. 
 
 * Between 1844 and 1850 the secretary informed the committee of 1850 that 
 the number in the club had risen to 1,638. 
 
 t The Liverpool Committee on Trades' Societies were informed that the number 
 had at one time been as high as 1,900. 
 
506 An Account of 
 
 SHIELDS AND NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE. 
 
 [Examined: — A Master Shipbuilder from Shields; the Solicitor of the Master 
 Shipwrights of the Tyne and Wear ; and three Journeymen Shipwrights, two 
 from Shields, and one from Newcastle-on-Tyne.] 
 
 In October, 1823, tlie foreman of a master, at South Shields, found 
 cause to complain of insufficient work on the part of the men 
 engaged in repairing a vessel, and afterwards dismissed them; all 
 the other men in the yard took up their tools and went away, and the 
 ship stood idle ten days. The shipowners of South Shields resolved, 
 in the spring of 1824, to employ no men who were members of the 
 Union. All the men were discharged, and remained out for six- 
 teen or seventeen weeks, though often in a state bordering on 
 starvation. The masters admitted that there was no violence at that 
 time. The ground of this proceeding was the support given by the 
 men to the shipwrights at Sunderland, who had refused to work 
 with any master unless he would stipulate not to take apprentices 
 for less than seven years: a previous strike on the same ground had 
 occurred at Shields, for three or four days in February. Wages 
 had nothing to do with the dispute. Some men were sent to prison 
 under the Combination Laws, but this had no eflFect on the strike. 
 The difference was at last accommodated on the masters promising 
 to take no more three years' apprentices at that time. ' 
 
 The masters had an agreement among themselves, that in case of 
 a dispute between any master and his men, "the whole of the yards 
 should be closed until the dispute was settled." In the dispute 
 about apprentices, just now referred to, 400 men were discharged, of 
 whom more than 300 belonged to yards in which there was no dis- 
 agreement. 
 
 By a rule of the combined masters, men dismissed by any one of 
 them could not be taken on by any other of their body. The Union 
 at South Shields was formed in June, 1823, and contained 600 
 shipwrights. It had no communication, by delegates or otherwise, 
 with the Unions of Newcastle and North Shields. Though there 
 were no rules to that effect, the members of the Union would pro- 
 bably have declined working for any master who took more than a 
 certain number of apprentices, or with any shipwright who was not 
 a member of the Union ; the latter case however could scarcely arise, 
 since " there was no man in Shields but was a member of the 
 Society." None but persons who had served a seven years' appren- 
 ticeship could, by the rules, be admitted members of the Society. A 
 non-unionist would not be threatened or injured. ' The Society had 
 no secret rules. 
 
 The Shipwrights' Union at Newcastle-on-Tyne, consisting of 
 239 members, was unconnected with any other society. It gave 
 relief in cases of sickness, accident, and death, but " never yet to 
 men who refused to accept the wages offered them by their masters." 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 507 
 
 An increase of wages from As. to As. Qd. a day was granted at once, 
 on written request of the men, in November, 1824. 
 
 There was no rule in the Newcastle Society prohibiting appren- 
 tices from going from one yard to another, to assist in finishing 
 work, though the practice was objected to. 
 
 From that time to the present I have been unable to gather any 
 information. The only rules I have received are those of the " New- 
 castle-upon-Tyne Shipwrights' Union Society." There are two sets, 
 viz. : one relating to trade, and the other relating to benefits re- 
 ceived. The former has the somewhat singular title of the " Rules, 
 Opinions," &c., of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Shipwrights' Union 
 Society ; and commences thus : — 
 
 " 1. The members of this Society work at shipwrights' work only 
 with each other, and the members of the United Kingdom Amalga- 
 mated Society of Shipwrights. 
 
 "2. The members of this Society consider the making of iron knee- 
 moulds ; building chain-trunks ; laying half-decks and forecastle 
 floors ; putting bulwark around bows ; building sterns on any new or 
 old vessel; building bulksheads in any old vessel; building round- 
 houses; putting pumps and similar work in vessels; cutting hause, 
 scupper, port, or any such holes; and the putting in of hause-pipes, 
 &c., &c., belong to the shipwright trade; and other trades have in- 
 fringed on the right of that trade by doing the above-named things. 
 This Society, therefore, urges each of its members to withstand any 
 of these or similar infringements in future, by strictly adhering to, 
 and fully carrying out Eule 1st." 
 
 With regard to this second rule, Mr. Thomas Pringle, in a little 
 pamphlet, written in a moderate, and apparently candid spirit, 
 remarks : — 
 
 " Only recently, on the Tyne, there was a strike of joiners on 
 account of this rule being enforced by the shipwrights. The joiners 
 contended stoutly that much of the work claimed by the ship-svrights 
 was joiner's work, and a regular quarrel ensued between the two 
 classes, one refusing to work in the same yard with the other, until 
 they came to a mutual agreement irrespective of the master. 
 
 " It is amusing to observe that those shipwrights who are so jealous 
 of any other workmen interfering with their duties, . . . become 
 w^agon builders, house carpenters, and in instances even labourers 
 at 2s. 6d. a day, rather than work at 4*. a day as shipwrights. The 
 Shipwrights' Society urges each of its members to withstand 
 strictly any infringement of their rights. No one but a ship car- 
 penter — no house carpenter — will be allowed to make moulds for 
 iron knees, build chain-trunks, lay half-decks and forecastle floors, 
 &c., but not a word does the Society urge about its being unfair for 
 a shipwright to build wagons or construct houses." 
 
 Then follow some rules, laying down stringent regulations as to 
 overtime, amount of wages to be demanded, &c. 
 
 " 4. This Society condemns the practice of any of its members 
 working overtime whilst any of its members are unemployed. 
 
508 An Account of 
 
 " o. At wlaatever time of day a member of this Society is discharged, 
 either at the finishing of a vessel or otherwise, not less than a day's 
 pay is required for the day on which he is discharged. 
 
 •' 6. Berths are set ojff only at caulking : at any other work it is 
 expected that members will assist each other when working together, 
 and thus cause that kindliness of feeling towards each other which 
 is so desirable to us as men, and so necessary to us as m.einbers of 
 one society. 
 
 " 7. Not any member of this Society takes piecework at ship- 
 wright work. 
 
 " 8. Any member wishing to go to any port beyond the twelve ports 
 that are nearest to Newcastle on the north-east coast, must apply to 
 the secretary, who shall write to the port named by the member, to 
 learn if there is a demand for labour at that port." 
 
 The last rule is one to which it appears no objection can be taken; 
 but the previous ones appear to fetter the operative considerably, and 
 require strong reason to be shown for their necessity. The same may 
 be said of 13, which follows. 
 
 "13. This Society does not countenance the taking of lads to the 
 shipwright trade who are under fourteen or above fifteen years of 
 age ; nor are the weekly wages of apprentices to be, at any time, more 
 than ten shillings. 
 
 " 14. As oneof the objects of this Society is to secure, as far as pos- 
 sible, constant employment to its members, there ought to be limits 
 with regard to the number of apprentices taken in each yard, otherwise 
 the employers will have the power to overstock the labour market to 
 what extent they may think proper." 
 
 Then follow, among others, rules relating to the number of feet 
 which is to be considered a day's work in caulking. This for old 
 work is declared to be, 
 
 " 18. For either plank or sheathing 70 feet per day. 
 
 For new sheathing 80 „ 
 
 For old decks 90 „ 
 
 " 19. On Saturday six feet less is caulked than on other days, when 
 forty feet is the day's work, and ten feet less when it is seventy feet, 
 and fifteen feet less than when it is one hundred feet, and so on ; as 
 the time of work is three-twentieths less than on other days, there- 
 fore, three-twentieths less work is caulked. 
 
 " 20. Each of the above scales we will endeavour to perform at all 
 times, providing we receive oakum that is fit for spinning with, and 
 driving, and proper oil to caulk with ; and also, providing that.a stage 
 is ready to commence caulking on. Should it be requisite, at the 
 commencement of a day's work, or at any other time of the day that 
 interferes with a day's work of caulking, for the caulkers to make 
 a stage, or do anything else but caulk, and what is connected with it, 
 then so much less than a day's work must necessarily be caulked, 
 as the above scales apply only to caulking, and not to caulking and 
 making stages, or anything else. 
 
 "21. The Society, whilst it strongly condemns the practice of 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 509 
 
 hurrying along a seam in caulking, recommends each, member to do 
 his work well, rather than to do it quickly and impeepectlt. 
 
 " 22. This Society also strongly condemns the practice of Drum- 
 ming, which is not even an apology for not doing that which it is in- 
 tended to represent — caulking. It is, as its name indicates, sound, and 
 nothing more; and the Society advises, that not any of its members 
 should lend themselves as tools to those who practice this deception. 
 
 "23. During the times that the decks, top-sides, or binds, of a new 
 vessel are being caulked, all members who are working at the vessel 
 are entitled to the usual allowance of ale ; and, also, from the time 
 forward that caulking takes place below the binds." 
 
 Why all workmen upon a ship should require the usual allowance 
 of ale, when only part are employed ' in caulking, does not distinctly 
 appear. The rules then go on to exact that : — 
 
 " 24. The riming-wedge money, for vessels of six hundred tons 
 and upwards, is four shillings for each caulker ; and for vessels 
 below six hundred tons, two shillings.. Members caulking both sides 
 of a vessel are entitled to double riming-wedge money. 
 
 " 25. A member caulking a day's work at the top-sides of a vessel 
 is entitled to full riming-wedge money, although he should not caulk 
 the vessel down, providing that it is not through his own fault that 
 he does not. 
 
 " 26. The riming-wedge money, for caulking new work at an old 
 vessel, is one shilling and sixpence; which sum any m.ember is en- 
 titled to who caulks a day's work of new work at an old vessel. 
 
 "28. From the time that the tide leaves a vessel until it returns to 
 the vessel, is considered a tide's- work ; or from the time of a vessel 
 taking the ground till low water. If, when a tide's work is com- 
 menced when the tide leaves a vessel, work is continued until high 
 water, a tide and half-day is claimed. The same claim is also made 
 when, the tide's-work having commenced at the time the vessel took 
 the ground, work is continued until the tide arrives at the vessel ; 
 and should work be continued until high water, two tides would be 
 claimed. JVof any one to work at both sides of a vessel at one tide, 
 unless in search of a leak." 
 
 What the effect of these rules is can only be properly estimated 
 by a man practically engaged in shipbuilding or repairing ; but to 
 an unpractised eye they appear to be very stringent. The 29th rule 
 provides that any resolution passed at a head, half-yearly, or special 
 meeting, cannot be amended or repealed until such amendment or 
 repeal has been given notice of at two successive meetings without 
 the motion for discussion having been negatived. At the close of 
 the benefit rules, I find this rule : — 
 
 "Any member calling another a liar, reflecting on his character, or 
 on his receiving relief from the Society's funds, he shall be fined two 
 shillings and sixpence. 
 
 " If any member shall be censorious with the conduct of the com- 
 mittee when they acted for the general good of the Association, he 
 shall be fined two shillings and sixpence." 
 
510 An Account of 
 
 The rules state the Society to have been established in 1823, and the 
 rules of the benefit society revised in 1838, — of the trade club in 1855. 
 The secretary of the South Shields Shipwi'ights' Society informs us 
 that his Society numbers about sixhundredmembers,that the conditions 
 of entrance are seven years' apprenticeship in the port, that they are 
 amalgamated throughout the United Kingdom, to the number of eight 
 thousand members, but do not acknowledge any central board. He 
 goes on to say, " We consider trades' Societies necessary to enforce 
 seven years' apprenticeship, and also that seven years' apprenticeship 
 is indispensable to every efScient workman, and our practical expe- 
 rience of upwards of thirty years goes to prove that the workman- 
 ship is of a decidedly superior character to what it was before the 
 establishment of our Society." A frequent correspondence is said 
 to take place between the secretaries of the various societies as to 
 the state of trade in different ports. The rate of wages is by the 
 day, and is 5s. per day; a week's notice is given by mutual agreement 
 between employers and employed. In relation to strikes, an em- , 
 ployer informs the Committee that strikes have been common during 
 the last two years; that the last commenced in May, and terminated 
 in August, 1859, being in consequence of a demand of an advance of 
 Is. per day; trade was dull at the time, and wages at As. per day. 
 The masters at first declined to advance wages, but subsequently 
 offered As. 6d. per day, which was declined, and the offer was with- 
 drawn, but ultimately the masters had to give in, in consequence of 
 individual employers not holding out. The men were supported in 
 strike by the Union, by a payment of 2s. per day, while the funds 
 lasted — afterwards less — and also by being employed as labourers in 
 a yard where an employer had introduced sixty Scotch shipwrights. 
 There was some intimidation, and the men implicated were brought 
 before the magistrate, but the general conduct of the shipwrights 
 was not violent. The workmen made the demand as a union, em- 
 bracing the North Eastern Ports. In 1850, the following placard 
 was posted, which speaks for itself. 
 
 " The following regulations to take effect on Monday, the 20th 
 January, 1851, and to be observed in all the yards on the Tyne from 
 that day. 
 
 " At a meeting of the shipbuilders, dock-owners, and patent slip- 
 owners of the River Tyne, held at the Commercial Hotel, North 
 Shields, November 4th, 1850, to take into consideration the subject 
 of a printed pamphlet, purporting to be ' regulations henceforth to 
 be observed by the shipwrights of the Tyne,' it was the unanimous 
 opinion of the meeting that to submit to the operation of all the rules 
 set forth would be at once, and for the future, to subject themselves 
 to the will of their workmen, or rather that of their leaders ; — ^which 
 would insure not only the sacrifice of the proper interests of the 
 members of this Society, but also the discouragement of their best 
 shipwrights, and ultimately the ruin of their trade in this port. 
 
 " It was therefore resolved : — 
 
 " 1. That the rules entered into in October, 1842, by the ship- 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 511 
 
 builders, and dock and slip owners of the Eiver Tyne, be reprinted, 
 and presented to the shipwrights as the only terms by which the 
 members will consent to be governed. 
 
 " 2. That the various insurance clubs of the river Tyne be made 
 aware of those rules, and be requested to give them their sanction 
 and support. 
 
 " 3. That the gentlemen present sign those rules, and that those 
 who were absent be requested to do the same, and when those rules 
 are signed by all, that they be acted upon by all the trade. 
 
 " ETJLES EEFEREED TO ABOVE. 
 
 " 1. That the masters and foremen employ such men as they think 
 proper, and in such way and manner as they think fit, and that no 
 restriction shall be put in regard to apprentices. 
 
 " 2. The men to be discharged at any period of the day, provided 
 they have notice at the coromencement of the day or the night 
 before how long they will be required. 
 
 " 3. That the masters will employ such men for foremen as they 
 think proper, without any interference or annoyance from the men. 
 
 " 4. That the men be required to work until four o'clock on 
 Saturdays, and no time shall be given for allowance on that day. 
 
 " 5. That riming wedges only be paid for when they have caulked 
 50 feet, and no allowance made for single wedges. 
 
 " 6. No allowance to be given to the men at new ships, except 
 when caulking (except to the persons employed in caulking ?). 
 
 " Y. All tide's works to be paid according to day's pay, and on no 
 occasion to be entitled to double tides during one tide. 
 
 " 8. To work at any part of a ship during the time the water is 
 from her, according to the direction of the master or foreman. 
 
 " 9. No extra time shall be paid for undocking a ship if during 
 the regular hours of the day, but a quarter-day shall be paid for 
 docking if before six o'clock, and a half-day for docking or un- 
 docking, if after six o'clock at night, or before six o'clock in the 
 morning. 
 
 " 10. That the wages be governed by the demand for men. 
 
 "11. That no given number of feet be considered a day's work 
 when caulking, either at new work or old, but that it be mutually 
 understood every exertion and attention shall be paid to give satis- 
 faction whenever, or at whatever work, they are employed." 
 
 At a meeting held at Mr. John Ayre's, Broad Chare, Newcastle, 
 November 11th, 1850, it was resolved: — 
 
 " That the resolutions entered into at a previous meeting held at 
 North Shields, on the 4th instant, be now confirmed, and that the 
 secretary be instructed to have the said resolutions fairly copied, 
 appending the rules made by the master shipwrights in 1842, and 
 get the same signed by those of the trade who were not present at 
 the meeting that evening." 
 
 Signed by twenty-four employers. 
 
512 An Account of 
 
 SHIPWRIGHTS OF THE WEAE. 
 
 [Materials : — A Defence of Trades' Union in general, and the Sunderland 
 Ship^v^igllts' Society in particular, by an Operative Shipwright, 1857 ; Answer 
 to Employers' Questions ; the Shipwrights' Trades' Unions of the Wear and Tyne, 
 by Thomas Pringle, I860.] 
 
 The evidence of the employer is as foUov^s : — "We employ on an 
 average about 100 men, exclusive of apprentices. It is daywork, 
 sliip\vrights being paid 5^., and sbip joiners and smiths 4s. 6c?. per 
 day; sawyers per 100 feet. They are all in separate societies. All 
 leading men, with few exceptions, in the societies, are skilled 
 workmen. The societies make their own rate of labour, and enforce 
 it, and pay each man, good or bad, the same rate per day. We never 
 have had any non-society men, it being next to impossible to 
 obtain any. We are obliged to take any kind of men at times, but 
 keep the best men when there is a chance. We are always pre- 
 vented from giving higher wages to better men, by their own rules 
 of wagesbeing uniform for good and bad men. The Union won't allow 
 any but society men to be employed. We are prevented from taking 
 contracts for fear of rise in wages, which happens with so little 
 notice as to cause a great loss in the event of a rise, and the loss of 
 time by strike, when purchasers require them by set times. We 
 see no tendency to improvement. Good workmen would always 
 command fair remuneration without combination. There is a ship- 
 builders' society but only in name, as the interests differ so much 
 they never hold together. We were never fettered as to number of 
 apprentices, but not allowed to take them over fourteen. As soon 
 as an apprentice enters a yard he has to give in his name to the 
 Society ; a copy of the rules is given to him; if he infringes them 
 they deal with him as they think fit, at the expiration of his 
 apprenticeship, which has a very bad effect on the apprentices ; and 
 the fixed rate of wages when they are out of their time gives them 
 no stimulus. The effect has been, that it has driven the trade from 
 the port in a very large measure. We cannot give any instance 
 in which a general advance of wages has taken place in our trade 
 without the intervention of a trade society, or without a strike or 
 threat of strike. Gaining their ends so much has made the work- 
 men very independent in manner. I think each master should 
 arrange with his own men, and if they could not agree appoint a 
 referee. The Shipbuilders' Society was got up seven years ago, 
 when strikes wei'e so prevalent, to settle by arbitration all cases, but 
 they have never succeeded in doing much." A few extracts from an 
 article in the Sunderland Times about Trades' Unions, and from 
 Mr. Pringle's pamphlet, and the Operative Shipwrights' Defence, 
 must close this division of our subject. 
 
 From the Sunderland Tiwies, 7th July, 1860. 
 " Analysing the latest j)ublished returns of the shipping of the 
 kingdom, we find that, in the year 1859, there were built in the 
 United Kingdom : — 
 
Shipwrights^ Trades' Societies. 513 
 
 " Tons. 
 
 "799 Timber vessels, measuring 130,116 
 
 140 Iron do. do 55,854 
 
 Total 185,970 
 
 Of Colonial built vessels, registered in tWs country, 
 
 there were 18 8,292 
 
 Of Foreign do., 60 15,840 
 
 Total added to our register 210,102 
 
 " It will be seen, that, notwithstanding the facilities offered to 
 foreigners to sell their ' cheap' vessels to British owners, they have 
 only supplied about a twelfth of the British register in 1859, while 
 the colonial builder, who at one time supplied no inconsiderable 
 portion of our tonnage, only contributed about a twenty-third part of 
 it in the same year. 
 
 "We find, from the corresponding returns for 1853, that in that 
 year there were — 
 
 " Tons. 
 
 « 671 Timber vessels built 149,685 
 
 127 Iron do 53,486 
 
 Total 203,171 
 
 32 Colonial do 26,443 
 
 102 Foreign do 30,073 
 
 Total 259,687 
 
 " The falling off in the British timber shipbuilding trade is thus 
 remarkably small, on comparing the two years, if we take into con- 
 sideration the long continued depression in the shipping trade : — 
 
 " Tons. 
 
 "Total Timber vessels built, 1853 149,685 
 
 Do. do. 1859 130,116 
 
 Total decrease 19,569 
 
 Timber vessels built at Sunderland, 
 
 1853 68,479 
 
 Do. do., 1859 34,684 
 
 Decrease 33,795 
 
 " The time was when it was the boast of every Sunderland man 
 that our shipbuilding was year by year increasing in a greater ratio 
 than at other ports ; but now the case is altered. There was a de- 
 crease in the tonnage of timber ships built during last year, as com- 
 pared with 1853, in the United Kingdom ; but the falling off at Sun- 
 derland far exceeded the total decrease, the tonnage built at this port 
 having, in round numbers, decreased one-half, from 68,479 in 1853, 
 to 34,684 in 1859, while the trade at other ports increased from 
 81 206 in 1853, to 95,432 in 1859. The question naturally occurs, 
 in what does the difference consist which results in a retrograding 
 instead of an advancing trade ? As regards materials, this pprt pos- 
 sesses advantages at least equal, if not superior, to what it did when 
 we were going ahead. There has also been a great improvement in 
 
514 An Account of 
 
 the quality of the outfit supplied to the vessels built. Neither the 
 skill of our builders nor of the workmen has deteriorated. Sunder- 
 land retains her fame for the beauty of the model of her vessels, and 
 especially for the extent to which the great practical problem is 
 realized, of combining swift sailing qualities with carrying capacity. 
 Our capacious docks have afforded increased, and, we might add, 
 unequalled facilities for the construction and outfit of the largest 
 description of vessels. Why, then, have we not maintained our 
 relative position? Why, indeed, have we not advanced, and absorbed 
 a larger proportion of the timber shipbuilding of the kingdom? We 
 know of no answer — no explanation which can be given, except that 
 which is embraced in one word- — strikes ! Strikes, continuous dis- 
 putes between our shipwrights and their employers, have been the 
 sole cause of the lamentable and continuous decline which has 
 within the last few years marked the history of ' shipbuilding 
 on the Wear.' Why, then, have we had those strikes ? Because 
 radically erroneous views have been entertained respecting the effi- 
 ciency of a strike, or cessation from labour, as a means of obtaining 
 higher rates of wages, or any other object, for which the strike may 
 have been undertaken. We cannot apportion the exact amount of 
 folly or blame, on the part of the employers or employed, which 
 have led to a strike, but may, with all the authority which belongs 
 to an indisputable question in arithmetical calculation, maintain that 
 a strike for wages which requires more than the most temporary 
 cessation of labour to obtain it, cannot, even if obtained, be per- 
 manently beneficial." 
 
 From Mr. Pringle's Pamphlet, 1860. 
 
 " Last year, when shipwrights were wanted for the Government, 
 Sunderland was naturally enough looked to for a supply. Hundreds 
 of unemployed men were walking the streets in idleness at the time, 
 and gladly accepted the wages oifered at Woolwich and Portsmouth 
 of 4^. 2d. per day. Their mates in work, on the banks of the Wear, 
 were receiving As. 6d. per day at the same time. Notwithstanding 
 this difference in favour of the Wear men, and the fact that scores 
 were still at home unemployed, a demand was made by the Union of 
 6c?. per day more, and a strike ensued at this period of depression. 
 Because the masters would not, or could not, afford to give 30s. 
 per week, hundreds of men were thrown out of employment. Go- 
 vermnent was only giving 25s. ; — the Wear men were not allowed to 
 earn 27s. a week. No; the masters must be compelled to pay 30.s. 
 per week, or the workmen must do without any wages at all, receiv- 
 ing the half-pay, or the proportion allowed by the Union. 
 
 " An extensive builder, at Monkswearmouth, offered to guarantee to 
 his workmen employment all the year round, if they would refrain 
 from obeying the orders of the Union, when required to strike for 
 this advance ; and he offered to bank £500 in their name, which he 
 would forfeit did he not fulfil his pledge; but they would not listen 
 to his proposal. 
 
 " The most undignified part of the obstructive laws is that in which 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 515 
 
 the shipwrights, men who have served a seven years' apprenticeship, 
 first class artisans, insist upon doing such labourage as carrying 
 wood and making stages. The practical result is to make a vessel 
 cost as much as possible. Why do the best men not sweep the yard 
 and clean the saw-pit every two hours ? It would be nearly as 
 rational. 
 
 " The extortionate rules are numerous on the Tyne. The Wear 
 rules are more moderate. These rules relate to the pay for getting 
 vessels into dock, &c., before or after the usual hours. Half a day's 
 pay is required. A member must have a day's pay, whatever time 
 of day his work may be finished; berths are set off only at caulking; 
 a scale of work to be done for a day's work is laid down, and no 
 more work than this scale allows must be done for a day's work. 
 The Society 'strongly condemns the practice of hurrying;' all 
 members working at the vessel are entitled to the usual allowance 
 of ale, though only part are employed caulking. The riming wedge 
 money is four shillings for a ship of six hundred tons and upwards; 
 for vessels below six hundred tons, two shillings; members caulking 
 both sides of a vessel are entitled to double riming wedge money. 
 The rules relating to tide's work, too, are a fine instance of care for 
 the interests of the members of the Society. The Sunderland rules 
 only require allowance to all shipwrights working at the new ship 
 when the majority of hands are caulking or coppering. Any mem- 
 ber requested to move or moor a vessel, after being launched, is to 
 be paid tide's work. 
 
 " The policy is faulty, and the result is known. It is no longer a 
 secret that vessels belonging to the port of Sunderland have been 
 sent to Aberdeen to be repaired, and the new shipbuilding trade of 
 the Wear is sadly falling off. What wonder, when the fact is patent 
 that the Sunderland builder, or repairer, pays in wages to every man 
 two-fifths more than his Aberdeen competitor pays. What matters 
 it that the Aberdeen men also have a union society and belong to 
 the ' United Kingdom Amalgamated Society of Shipivrights ;' they 
 work for two-fifths less money than the Wear or Tyne men, and 
 thereby cut them out of the market. So much for the co-operative 
 brotherhood." 
 
 From, The Operative Shipwrights' Defence, 1857. 
 
 " The present social order, bad as it is, the absence of civil wars 
 in England, may be mainly attributed to trade societies. When the 
 time" arrives for the middle classes to ruin and crush all trade 
 societies, then woe unto the rich ! for civil wars are nigh at hand. 
 Pause ! meditate awhile, ye rich men, and ask yourselves in what 
 lies your security. 
 
 " Permit me to state a few facts relative to the Sunderland Ship- 
 wrights' Society. Before the present Society was organized, and at 
 the time when there was no society, what was the state of trade, and 
 the condition of the shipwrights of the port of Sunderland ? Just 
 before the formation of the present Society, shipwrights' wages were 
 
 LL 
 
516 Ati Account of 
 
 three sliillings per day, hundreds were unemployed oven at that rate 
 of wages, and numbers were breaking stones for sixpence per day. 
 Provisions and clothing were dearer then than at present. So much, 
 competition, so much excessive labour, so much slimming of work, 
 existed, that the port of Sunderland acquired an unenviable name 
 amongst all mercantile men. Sunderland slimly-built, leaky ships 
 were talked about throughout the whole of the United Kingdom. 
 Sunderland shipwrights learned the lesson then that blind compe- 
 tition for labour created low wages, excessive labour, mutual distrust 
 and deception, envy and hatred. Men felt the great want of a 
 society then. The present Society was organized, and the avidity 
 with which the men joined it is a great proof of their ap)preclation of 
 its value. There are about 1,800 members in this Society, and: 
 throughout the United Kingdom there are about 12,000 shipwrights,, 
 members of ti-ade societies, which fact decidedly proves they believed 
 in their utility. 
 
 "After the shipwrights of Sunderland formed their society, did it 
 depress the shipbuilding trade on the Wear ? Did that jJort obtain 
 a worse or better character ? Now the plain fact is, that Sunder- 
 land became the greatest shipbuilding port in the United Kingdom 
 a few years after this Society was instituted. The character of the 
 port of Sunderland rose in the estimation of mercantile men, and the 
 ship-yards on the banks of the Wear were in the most flourishing 
 condition, building. Instead of low-classed, low-priced, leaky ships, 
 large first-class ships, commanding the best price given for ships. 
 
 " Trade societies are admirably adapted to check the mere adven- 
 turer, who seeks to produce only to realize wealth, regardless of the 
 article produced. The present Shipwrights' Society was instituted 
 in 1846, and has continued progressing since that time to its pre- 
 sent state of organization. 
 
 " Let any feeling, thinking man read the terrible history of the 
 sweating system in the tailoring trade — the history of the factory 
 operatives — the Spitalfields weavers — the agricultural labourers ; 
 and amongst the female operatives, the poor glovers, dress and 
 mantle makers, slop-workers, and needlewomen in this country, — and 
 ask themselves whether low wages have Improved the social, moral, 
 and intellectual condition of those classes of operatives. Let think- 
 ing, intelligent men ask themselves what will be the consequence if 
 the men in the iron trades and the wood trades — the men engaged 
 in the construction and navigation of our mercantile marine navy, 
 should be reduced to the condition of the above-mentioned operatives. 
 Will they as quietly submit ? 
 
 " It is true there is an indirect species of compulsion in trade 
 societies which the present state of society renders absolutely neces- 
 sary. It consists in this. Society men refuse to work with those 
 who are utterly regardless of their own interests — men who never 
 look beyond the hour in which they are living ; often drunken 
 reprobates, selfish, unfeeling, greedy men, who cannot feel in their 
 hearts to contribute their mite towards the support of their fellow 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 517 
 
 men. Such men have often constant work, and are utterly regard- 
 less of their suffering brothers. Another class are the religiously 
 fanatical, who seldom think for themselves, and implicitly believe 
 everything the minister says. Such are the men who refuse to be- 
 come members of trade societies. Their numbers are equal to 
 about two per cent., compared with those who freely and eagerly 
 Join trade societies. If this compulsion be tyranny in the eyes of 
 others, it is for the working man 'Freedom's best and bravest 
 friend.' 
 
 " Trades societies are admirably adapted for obtaining correct data 
 of the average amount of sickness, the number of deaths and acci- 
 dents, &c. ; thus they can work with more certainty than those 
 societies which are composed of members of mixed trades." 
 
 DUBLIN, BEISTOL, AND LONDON. 
 
 The substance of the evidence brought before the committee on 
 combinations, in 1838, concerning Dublin shipwrights, was, that the 
 trade had been completely driven away from the town, in spite of 
 great natural advantages, in consequence of the violence of the 
 unionists, resulting sometimes in murder, technically called "slating." 
 
 About Bristol and London, our only information is contained in 
 the following abstract of the evidence of the committee of 1825. 
 
 A shipoAvner in Bristol stated that the carpenters employed on 
 one of his vessels struck. They demanded an advance of wages 
 (which was conceded), an allowance of beer, an increased allowance of 
 time, and an alteration in the hours of work, which were refused. 
 The shipowner procured artisans from Plymouth. The Bristol 
 carpenters hearing of their arrival, met the men, and told them that 
 they would not be allowed to work in Bristol. They paid their 
 expenses back to Plymouth, and treated them with spirits, which 
 they handed up to them on the coach, bidding them drink to the 
 success of the Carpenters' Union. They told them to stop any 
 others of their craft whom they might meet on the road to Bristol. 
 If a shipwright, not belonging to Bristol, came into the port, he was 
 allowed to work on producing his certificate and indentures and on 
 the payment of £5 to the Union. This rule, however, seems to have 
 been framed under the belief that its application would never be 
 requisite. On one occasion, some men from Milford having paid the 
 £5 — which the masters advanced to them — the Bristol carpenters were 
 so disappointed that they said they would have £10. Although no 
 assaults nor attacks had actually been committed, the witness thought 
 the safety of a non-unionist workman, in Bristol, would be very 
 questionable. 
 
 Twelve master shipbuilders, a shipowner, and ten working ship- 
 wrights, iu London, were examined by the committee. 
 
 A strike is mentioned as having occurred in the Thames yards in 
 the year 1802. Its object was to resist an attempted reduction of 
 wages. It lasted six months, and was marked by intimidation and 
 violence ; one shipbuilder indeed nearly lost his life. The evidence 
 
 ll2 
 
518 An Account of 
 
 Ibrouglit before the committee referred, however, chiefly to the 
 action of the society of working shipwi'ights, known as the Provident 
 Union, which was established on August 16th, 1824. The prin- 
 cipal point of dispute between men and masters related to the right 
 said to be claimed by the committee of the Union of sending hands 
 into the masters' yards without the consent of the masters. In the 
 month of January, according to the statement of an employer, the * 
 committee of the Union sent into his yard six men who had been 
 discharged from his Majesty's docks, whom otherwise they would 
 have had to support. The foreman, by his master's instructions, 
 told them that " It was impossible the claim of the committee or of 
 any persons to send men to work could be admitted ;" and the men 
 were dismissed : on which, about 120 men threw down their tools and 
 retired from the yard. This right, hoAvever, was only claimed by thj 
 men in cases in which they had a contract. They conceived that 
 " when they had a contract, for the execution of which they were 
 responsible, they were the best judges who should assist them to 
 fulfil that contract." This was a privilege, they maintained, which 
 belonged to them by the common practice of the river. " If I were 
 to take," one witness says, "a ship to build to-morrow, I should not 
 think of asking the master nor the foreman what men I should bring 
 in." Uninterrupted usage for ten years was alleged by the men in 
 defence of this " prerogative." 
 
 The understanding which the working shipwrights wished to 
 establish on this point is expressed in the 3rd article of their rules : 
 " When additional hands are required, if such additional hands are 
 set on by the builder or foreman, the contractors shall be at liberty 
 to refuse any man or men, stating a suificient reason for doing so ; 
 and if we are directed to procure the additional hands, should the 
 builder or foreman object to any man or men so set on, a sufficient 
 reason will be required by the party who contracts for the job." It 
 was acknowledged that the difference between this latter clause and 
 that insisted on by the masters, that "when additional hands are re- 
 quired, ... if they were directed to be procured by the people, 
 no man was to be engaged without the approbation of the builder or 
 foreman," — was "the great cause that had ultimately led to all other 
 differences," and "had brought aU the business of the river to a 
 stand." The practice in the yard where the dispute arose was said 
 to be different from that of some yards in the trade. When a gang 
 was employed on contract work, the master in question did not allow 
 the contract to be made with any takers, but with every specific man 
 w^ho was to perform the work. The ground taken by the masters 
 generally in this dispute, and the reasons of it, are thus given. 
 They urged that as they were responsible for the due perform- 
 ance of any contracts into which they might enter, and had no 
 remedy against the men for neglect, they ought to have the selection 
 of the men to whom they entrusted work, the men being allowed 
 liberty of objecting to any of their mates, and if the master persisted 
 in employing the men objected to, of quitting his service. 
 
Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 519 
 
 Previous to the outbreak of the dispute, the matter seems to hare 
 been arranged, without raising the question of right, by deference 
 on each side to the wishes and objections of the other. 
 
 Another ground of difference between the master builders and the 
 operative shipwrights related to the mode of payment adopted by 
 the former. It was complained that they " did not pay at all times 
 alike for the same thing in the same yard." The men therefore 
 drew up a book of prices, according to which everything should be 
 paid by measurement, — the code of prices " to be subject to modifi- 
 cations according to existing circumstances, as it is of no consequence 
 to the working mechanic whether he gets 3s. a day or Is., provided 
 the necessaries of life agree with those sums." The masters, how- 
 ever, refused to accede to the book of prices proposed by the workmen, 
 or to meet them in discussion. They insisted that a uniform scale 
 of payment was altogether impracticable in their trade. 
 
 A third grievance alleged by the men referred to the apprentice- 
 ship system. The masters were charged with appropriating the 
 profits legitimately accruing to the workmen from the labour of 
 their apprentices. 
 
 Another complaint urged by the men was, that in case of any dis- 
 pute occurring between themselves and the masters, the apprentices 
 of the yard were put on the work which the men should do. 
 
 The masters maintained their right to be absolutely unfettered in 
 the disposal of their apprentices. 
 
 The usage as to allowing shipwrights in the river to have their 
 sons apprenticed to them seems to have differed in different yards. 
 In some it was not permitted; in others, where it was occasionally 
 allowed, the custom was to divide the wages equally, the master 
 taking half, but giving the boys the whole surplus earnings which 
 they might make by working by the job. With a view to control 
 over the boys, apprentices for whom constant employ could be found 
 were nominally bound to their fathers, the master contracting to 
 find them work in the same manner as if they were bound to him- 
 self, so long as they conducted themselves properly. 
 
 The main point of difference, however, related to the alleged 
 interference of the Provident Union with the authority of the 
 toasters in the internal regulation of their own establishments ; and 
 to the tyrannical control exercised by the committee of the Union 
 over the individual determinations of operatives. In consequence of 
 the meddling of the Union, the masters in concert drew up a series of 
 regulations, containing the decisions they had come to on the several 
 points under controversy, and required subscription to them from 
 every workman who should enter their employment. These regu- 
 lations the Union refused to accede to. 
 
 It was the opinion of the masters, that many members of the Union 
 would have been glad to go to work under their rules, but " it would 
 have been at the peril of their lives to attempt it." " If they dared 
 to dispute the regulations [of the Union], not one shipwright in the 
 river would work with them." " One man who held out for a con- 
 
520 An Account of Shipwrights' Trades' Societies. 
 
 siderable time was almost starved." "Workmen who liad struck are 
 said to have stated, over and over again, that if it were not for the 
 dread of the Union, they would be very glad indeed to come to work 
 again. " They have told me," says one employer, " collectively and 
 individually, that if I could give them the smallest colour on earth, 
 that would be a justification to them, . . . they would all return 
 to work." The protection of the magistrates was found necessary 
 for eight or nine men, not of the Union, who remained at work, and 
 who were annoyed and assaulted. 
 
 On behalf of the men, there was a complete denial " that there 
 had ever been any interference of the committee of this Union, or of 
 the general body of the Union, with respect to the conduct of men in 
 the yards, as to their either working or not working under certain 
 circumstances." They never assumed, either in committee or general 
 meeting, "a shadow of jurisdiction in cases not included" in their 
 printed rules. In May, 1825, the masters, who had formed them- 
 selves into an association to resist the proceedings of their journey- 
 men, resolved to combat the strike by increasing the number of their 
 apprentices. The evidence taken before the committee does not 
 bring the history of the dispute beyond this point. 
 
AN ACCOUNT 
 
 OF SOME 
 
 TEAEE COMBINATIONS IN SHEFFIELD, 
 
 PREPAKED FOE 
 
 ^ije National Slssnctation for tijs lacamotioit at Social Sttciuc, 
 
 AT THE BEQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE ON TEADES' SOCIETIES. 
 
 By FRANK H. HILL.* 
 
 In making Trade Societies in Sheffield the subject of a special 
 paper, a local, may seem to have been substituted for the industrial, 
 classification, which has been observed throughout this volume. This 
 is not altogether so, however. The trades which constitute the staple 
 industry of Sheffield are nearly confined to that place, and to the 
 neighbouring villages of South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire. 
 The scissors trade which still lingers at Salisbury, the finer articles 
 of cutlery which are made in small quantities in London, even the 
 growing manufactures of files and other tools at Warrington and 
 Prescott, do not constitute any considerable exceptions to the prac- 
 tical monopoly which Sheffield possesses in the production of steel 
 goods, while the hardware trades carried on at Birmingham are of 
 a character so difierent from those of which Sheffield is the seat, 
 that little rivalry exists between the two towns. 
 
 The physical geography of HaUamshire, as the district is named 
 in which Sheffield stands, and which extends in undefined limits for 
 some miles round it, early determined the industrial pursuits of its 
 inhabitants. Its quarries and mines of coal and iron-stone, the abun- 
 dant supply of water affijrded by the Don and its tributaries, and the 
 falls in those rivers, which give available water-power, present 
 unusual facilities both for the conversion of iron into steel, and for 
 the manufactures of those articles of which steel is the material. 
 A line of Chaucer's, "A Shefyld thwytel bare he in his hose," shows 
 that at least before the close of the fourteenth century these advan- 
 tages had been turned to account. 
 
 From the time of the Roman collegia, or associations of artisans, 
 
 * For the materials which are reproduced in the following paper, I am indebted 
 in large measure to Mr. John Wilson, of 124, Hanover Place, Sheffield, who has 
 directly communicated much valuable information, or indicated the sources where 
 it might he found. The account of the Association of Amalgamated Trades is 
 drawn from documents furnished hy its secretary, Mr. W. Dronfield. The 
 resolutions of the combined masters, from 1809 to 1814, have been furnished by 
 T. A. Ward, Esq., of Sheffield, — to whom, and to other gentlemen who have 
 aided me, my best acknowledgments are offered. 
 
522 An Account of 
 
 to that of our modern Unions, trade combinations have been found 
 wherever a distinct trading class has arisen. They probably existed 
 in Sheffield, in some form or other, at this period. The first detailed 
 record of them, however, which we possess, is of considerably later 
 date. It is found in a document entitled " The Actes and Ordi- 
 naunces made and agreed uppon ... by all the hole fellowshippe and 
 company of cutlers and makers of knyves w"'in the lordshippe of 
 Halomshire, ... as also by the righte honorable George Erie of 
 Shrewsbury lorde and owner of the said lordshippe," &c. The affilia- 
 tion of modern trade societies to this ancient company, the identity of 
 many of their regulations with those of the acts and ordinances, and 
 the common object of both, are so clear and striking as to make an 
 account of them desirable. Combinations in Sheffield are essentially 
 a historic subject. They can be understood only imperfectly with- 
 out some reference to the past, whose impress they bear and whose 
 features they perpetuate. The reference shall be as brief as the 
 interests of clearness admit. 
 
 The Acts and Ordinances mentioned above are " recited in the 
 Court Eolls of the manor of Sheffield of the 7th Elizabeth . . . and 
 again more fully in 1590." An account of them is given in Mr. 
 Hunter's History of Hallamshirc, on whose authority the following 
 statements are made. The ordinances are said to be framed for the 
 " better relief and comodytie of the porer sorte " of the cutlers' fellow- 
 ship, an object with reference to which modern trades' societies are 
 frequently justified. At a dinner of the associated trades of Shef- 
 field on the 21st of February last, the uniform rate of wages insisted 
 on by some of the unions for workmen of various degrees of skill was 
 defended on this ground. " The great bane of social life, and of all life, 
 in England," said one of the speakers, who, though himself neither a 
 workman nor a master, was addressing and was applauded by an 
 audience of unionist workmen, " was that we were too much ' every 
 man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost.' It was often 
 urged against trades' unions that they brought down the better class 
 of workmen to the level of the lower, and raised the lower to the level 
 of the better class. That was perfectly true : as a workman said to 
 him that afternoon, it was taking a discount off the good workman 
 and sticking it on to the indifferent one. Well, there were precious few 
 masters who would willingly take a discount off themselves, if they 
 were good business men, in order to give their poor fellow-masters a 
 lift with it. It spoke strongly for the sympathy there was among 
 the working men that they were willing to help each other to such 
 an extent." The efficiency of trades' societies in saving their unem- 
 ployed workmen, not always thro^vn out of employment by a strike 
 or dispute with their masters, from destitution and the degradation of 
 parish relief, is a point which is much insisted on by the members 
 of those societies. They are, to a great extent, designed, whether 
 wisely or not, for the relief and commodity of the poorer sort of their 
 respective fellowships. 
 
 The first article of the ordinances — prescribing that no manufacturer. 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 523 
 
 whether master, servant, or apprentice, shall "perform 'any work apper- 
 teyniuge to the said scyence and mysterye of cutlers ' for eight-and- 
 twenty days next ensuing the 8th day of August in each year, nor 
 from Christmas to the 23rd day of January ; but shall apply himself 
 to other labours," under a penalty of 20s., — may perhaps have been 
 intended to impose a restriction upon production, such as modern 
 trades' societies in Sheffield and elsewhere strive to enforce by limita- 
 tion, not of weeks, but of hours and earnings. The Christmas week 
 is still a complete holiday in Sheffield among the artisans ; and the 
 Tuesday afternoon is kept with Sabbath sanctity so far as the doing 
 of no work is concerned. 
 
 The ordinances regarding apprentices need only to be quoted in 
 order to exhibit their parallelism, or rather identity, with the regula- 
 tions adoj)ted by trade societies. 
 
 " 2. No person to exercise the said trade who has not served an 
 apprenticeship of seven years, or been instructed by his father for that 
 term. Penalty forty shillings. 3. No person to have more than one 
 apprentice in his service at one time, nor to engage another till the 
 former be in his last year, nor take any for a less term than seven 
 years. Penalty forty shillings. 6. No person to be suffiered to exer- 
 cise the said trade who has not sufficiently learned it within the said 
 lordship. Penalty as before. ... 10. No journeyman to be em- 
 ployed under the age of twenty, except such as shall be allowed by 
 the Jury, or who have been apprentices, or taught by their fathers. 
 Penalty forty shillings. 11. No person who has not served an ap- 
 prenticeship, or been instructed by his father, to set up in the trade, 
 except he first pay to ' the Jury, or twelve men of the cutler's occu- 
 pation for the time being,' five pounds, one half for their use, the other 
 half for the poor of the said corporation, to be distributed by the Jury." 
 
 The other ordinances prohibit the grinding or glazing of knives by 
 persons not resident within the lordship and liberties, the using of 
 forged marks, the hafting of knives for, and the selling of knife- 
 blades to, any person not dwelling within the liberties. 
 
 In 1624 an Act was passed, entitled " An Act for the good order 
 and government of the makers of knives, sickles, shears, scissors, 
 and other cutlery wares in Hallamshire, in the county of York, and 
 parts near adjoining." The preamble, after setting forth that 
 " Whereas the greatest part of the inhabitants of those parts consists 
 of persons engaged in the diffijrent departments of the cutlery manu- 
 facture, and that by their industry and labour they have . . . relieved 
 and maintained their families, and have been enabled to set on work 
 many poor men inhabiting thereabout, who have very small means or 
 maintenance of living other than by their hard daily labour, as work- 
 men to the said cutlers," proceeds to allege that " now of late other 
 persons using the same profession in and about the same lordship 
 and liberty, and within six miles compass of the same, not being sub- 
 ject to any rule or goveinment, or search of any others of skill in 
 those manufactures, have refused to submit themselves to any order, 
 ordinance, or search, but every workman has taken liberty to him- 
 
524 An Account of 
 
 self to take as many apprentices, and for what term of years he 
 pleases, whereby and by the multitude of workmen, the tohole trade 
 and the exact skill is like in short time to be overthrown." For the 
 remedy of this evil, and to put a check to the manufacture of " deceit- 
 ful and unworkmanly wares " which such persons were in the liahit 
 of making to the " great deceit of his Majesty's subjects, and scandal 
 of the cutlers of that district and liberty, and disgrace and hin- 
 drances of the sale of cutlery and iron and steel wares there made, and 
 to the great impoverishment and overthrow of multitudes of poor 
 people," " it is enacted that all persons engaged in those manufactures 
 within the aforesaid limits shall form one body politic, perpetual and 
 incorporate, of one master, two wardens, six searchers, and twenty- 
 four assistants, and the rest commonalty of the said company of cut- 
 lers of the lordship of Hallamshire," with power of making laws and 
 of levying penalties (" to be given to the poor of the said corpora- 
 tion"). " There is some relaxation," says Mr. Hunter, in his account 
 of this Act, " of the strictness of the former ordinances in relation 
 to apprentices, the members of the corporation being allowed to take 
 a second apprentice when the first has served five years, but none 
 were to be taken for a shorter term than seven years, nor for a term 
 that shall have expired before the apprentice shall have attained the 
 age of twenty-one." One of the earliest exercises of their legisla- 
 tive functions by the company was the passing of an ordinance by 
 which " the restrictions as to taking apprentices, already sufiiciently 
 rigid, were made yet more so." " To the six searchers power was given 
 of entering dwelling-houses where tliey had reason to suppose that 
 deceitful wares were concealed. . . . The members of the body 
 were prohibited from working for strangers or selling to them 
 unfinished wares." 
 
 This Act was amended in 1791. A more popular mode of elect- 
 ing the officers of the company (hitherto annually self-elected) was 
 adopted. It was also enacted, " That any number of boys, the sons of 
 freemen, might be taken apprentices by members of the corporation, 
 but that of children of freemen, only one was to be held as an ap- 
 prentice who was in the first three years of his term ; that no person 
 should be allowed to exercise any of the incorporated trades who 
 was not a freeman; but that freemen might employ persons who were 
 not freemen, on new inventions; and that any persons who Vi^ere not 
 freemen, might obtain the freedom of the corporation, on payment 
 to the funds of the body of the sum of twenty pounds." While 
 these acts were in force, they sufiiciently compelled, by their regu- 
 lations in regard to apprentices, that limitation of the numbers of the 
 artisans for which the Sheffield Trades' Societies have since strenu- 
 ously, and in some cases successfully, contended. Probably for this 
 reason, we find little trace of trades' societies until within a short 
 time before the repeal of the restrictive clauses. It is not true, how- 
 ever, as has been stated,* that until 1810 there were no combinations 
 
 * See evidence of Mr. Jackson before the House of Commons, in 1833. 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 525 
 
 in Sheffield, nor that previous to that date the masters and the work- 
 men lived together on the most perfect terms of good fellowship. 
 
 In 1787, for example, there was a strike among the cutlers against 
 the "extortionate practice" of making thirteen knives to the dozen. 
 On this occasion the feelings of the men towards one at least of their 
 employers found expression in the following verses, which, as a 
 specimen of those that " indignatioii makes," may be here cited. 
 They are entitled — 
 
 W AND HIS THIRTEENS. 
 
 " That monster Oppression — behold how he stalks ! — 
 
 Keeps picking the bones of the poor as he walks. 
 
 There's not a mechanic throughout the whole land 
 
 But what more or less feels the weight of his hand. 
 
 That offspring of Tyranny, Baseness, and Pride, 
 
 Our rights hath invaded and almost destroyed. 
 
 May that man be banished who villany screens. 
 
 Or sides with big W and his thirteens. 
 
 CHOKCS. 
 
 " Then may the odd knife his great carcass dissect, 
 
 Lay open his vitals for men to inspect ; 
 
 A heart full as black as the infernal gulf, 
 
 In that greedy, blood-sucking, bone-scraping wolf. 
 " That wicked dissenter, expelled his own church, 
 
 Is rendered the subject of public reproach. 
 
 Since reprobate marks on his forehead appeared. 
 
 We all have concluded his conscience is seared. 
 
 See Mammon his God, and oppression his aim : 
 
 Hark ! how the streets ring with his infamous name ! 
 
 The boys at the play-house exhibit strange scenes, 
 
 Bespecting big W and his thirteens. ' 
 
 And may the odd knife, &c. 
 " Like Pharaoh for baseness — that type of the de'il — 
 
 He wants to flog journeymen with rods of steel. 
 
 And certainly would, had he got Pharaoh's power. 
 
 His heart is as hard and his temper as sour ; 
 
 Bnt Justice repelled him and set us all free. 
 
 Like bond-slaves of old in the year Jubilee. 
 
 May those be transported, or sent for marines. 
 
 Who work for big W and his thirteens. 
 
 And may the odd knife, &c. 
 " We claim, as true Yorkshiremen, leave to speak twic3. 
 
 That no man should work for him at any price. 
 
 Since he has attempted our lives to enthral, 
 
 And mingled our liquor with wormwood and gall. 
 
 Come, Beelzebub, take him, with his ill-got pelf, 
 
 He's equally bad, if not worse than thyself! 
 
 So shall every cutler that honestly means. 
 
 Cry, ' Take away W with his thirteens. 
 
 And may the odd knife, &c. 
 " But see foolish mortals, far worse than insane, 
 
 Three-fourths have returned into Egypt again ! 
 
 Although Pharaoh's hands they had fairly escaped. 
 
 Now they must submit for their bones to be scraped. 
 
 Whilst they give themselves and their all for a prey. 
 
 Let us be unanimous, and jointly say: 
 
 ♦ Success to our Sovereign, who peaceably reigns. 
 
 But down with both W 's twelves and thirteens.' 
 
 And may the odd knife, &c." 
 
526 An Account oj 
 
 The object of these maledictions is said to have been " sung out 
 of the theatre" by the indignant populace, a circumstance to which 
 allusion is made in the second verse. 
 
 On September 24th, 1790, the Sheffield Register records that 
 five scissor grinders were committed to Wakefield House of Correc- 
 tion for having kept work out above eight days, and refusing to 
 finish it, — at a discount, apparently, of fifty per cent, from the esta- 
 blished prices. Four of the men were committed to prison for three 
 months, the other man for one. They also had their " sacred poet," who 
 compares the men to Mordecai, who will not bow down to Haman. 
 
 " This Hallamshire Hamau keeps blacks at command, 
 To spread his dire mandates throughout the whole land ; 
 Together they meet, and their malice combine 
 To form a most hellish, infernal design. 
 On malice, on mischief, on tyranny bent. 
 Five poor honest grinders to prison they sent : 
 Though nothing they had of these men to complain. 
 But not paying discount for wearing a chain. 
 
 CHOEUS. 
 
 " Then Haman he vowed that all Israel should die, 
 And Mordecai hang betwixt the earth and the sky ; 
 But though he on plunder and rapine was bent, 
 He never took discount at fifty per cent." 
 
 The use of the word blacks, in the first line of this effusion, — the 
 common name, at the present time, of non-unionist workmen, — is 
 tolerably clear proof of the existence of combinations before the date 
 in question. 
 
 On the 9th of September, 1791, there was a general meeting of 
 manufacturers, at which it was " Resolved, that a committee be 
 appointed and subscriptions entered into to prosecute the scissor 
 grinders and other workmen, who have entered into unlawful com- 
 binations to raise the price of labour." On the 3rd of April fol- 
 lowing, the Scissor-smiths' Benefit Society was formed. " I have no 
 doubt," says Mr. Wilson, to whom I am indebted for all my informa- 
 tion as to combinations previous to 1809, " that it was a trade 
 society to oppose the actions of employers." 
 
 On July 14, 1796, the cutlers and the workmen in other branches 
 of the spring-knife trade struck for an advance of wages. Their de- 
 mands were — (1.) " That all forging of scales, springs, and blades 
 shall be advanced twopence per shilling." (2.) "That all spring-knives 
 shall be advanced in price twopence per shilling, from the lowest up 
 to those sold at Is. per dozen." (3.) " That all spring-knives from 
 Is. to 15*. per dozen shall be advanced one penny per shilling." (4.) 
 " That all spring-knives shall be advanced in the price of working 
 one halfpenny per shilling from [knives of the price of] 15s. up to 
 those of the highest prices, the advance of prices to take place from 
 the 21st of August next." 
 
 The masters met on the day on which this strike took place. 
 Out of ninety-five who were present there were only four dissentients 
 from the following resolution :— " That under present circumstances 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 527 
 
 this meeting cannot comply with the propositions of the workmen for 
 an advance of wages." By a second resolution they bound them- 
 selves not to employ the journeymen who had quitted the service of 
 any of their number, without the consent, in writing, of the journey- 
 men's former master. 
 
 It is remarkable, however, that the Act 5 Geo. IV. c. 95, which in 
 its first section enumerates, in order to repeal, all the statutes against 
 combinations of workmen, most of which were directed against spe- 
 cial trades, mentions none affecting Sheffield workmen. From this 
 it may, perhaps, be inferred that disputes between masters and men 
 there were exceptional, and were seldom pushed to an extreme. 
 
 In 1809 trade was very brisk, and the prices of provisions and of 
 all the necessaries of life were very high. The artisans, on this 
 ground, united to demand an advance of wages. They felt great 
 dissatisfaction also at the irregularity of prices given for the same 
 work in the same trade, and they required, therefore, uniformity, as 
 well as increase, of payment. They determined to level upwards. 
 The masters combined to resist them. A meeting of the manufac- 
 turers of the corporate trades was held on the 4th December, 1809, 
 and resolutions were passed to the following effect : — • 
 
 " (1.) That the combinations and conspiracies among the work- 
 men are dangerous. 
 
 " (2.) That any unreasonable advance of wages would be im- 
 politic, and ought to be resisted. 
 
 " (3.^ That any great advance in the prices of goods would 
 materially injure the trade. 
 
 " (4.) That the masters in each trade be advised to appoint a com- 
 mittee to investigate the complaints of the journeymen, but not to 
 proceed with the investigation till the journeymen who have with- 
 drawn from their work have returned to their duty." 
 
 I have no details of the conduct of the workmen from 1810 to 
 1814, though such details might no doubt be found in the Sheffield 
 newspapers of that time. The character of their proceedings gene- 
 rally, as regarded from the masters' point of view, is sufficiently 
 apparent from the preceding resolutions, and from the following, 
 which were passed a few months later. 
 
 At a meeting of manufacturers, on the 6th of April, 1810, it was 
 resolved : — 
 
 "(1.) That the present combinations and arbitrary measures of 
 the workmen to obtain an exorbitant advance of wages are a serious 
 and alarming evil. 
 
 "(2.) That to counteract the improper designs of the journeymen, 
 prosecutions be commenced against such as are guilty of unlawful 
 combinations. 
 
 "(3.) That subscriptions be entered into and a committee ap 
 pointed for that purpose." 
 
 It is announced in the Sheffield Iris, of July 2nd, 1810, that the 
 disputes in the spring-knife trade are adjusted. 
 
 This was bv the concession on the part of the masters of a list of 
 
528 An Account of 
 
 prices, since kno'wii as the statement of 1810, whicli seems to have 
 been a compromise between the demands of the -workmen and the 
 list offered by the employers. A similar adjustment took place in 
 the other trades. lu the subsequent history of trade disputes at 
 Sheffield, this statement is constantly appealed to by the workmen 
 as the standard of a fair but not excessive rate of wages. Perpetual 
 efforts have been made to re-establish it. It remained in force 
 until the year 1814. The departure from it which then took place 
 was the act of the workmen themselves, who thought that the state 
 of trade justified them in asking a further advance. The masters 
 alleged that the demand made was exorbitant, and that if granted 
 the effect on prices would be such as to exclude Sheffield goods from 
 foreign markets. They therefore again met and formed the " Sheffield 
 Mercantile and Manufacturing Union." A general committee of the 
 Union was appointed together with special committees for the several 
 trades. The following resolutions among others were agreed upon : — 
 
 " Rule 4. No merchant or member shall purchase any article of 
 Sheffield manufacture at a higher rate than he could in 1813, nor at 
 any price from persons who were not master manufacturers in that 
 year, nor at any manufactory where the grinders have suspended 
 work for an advance of wages, till the general committee give notice 
 that the prices have been settled between the masters and workmen 
 of that branch. 
 
 " Rule 5. No manufacturer, under a penalty of £100, shall pay 
 higher for any description of work than he did in 1813, except 
 in branches respecting which notice shall have been given by the 
 committee. Nor shall he have any workman from any other manu- 
 factory, till the general committee shall have given notice that the 
 prices in that branch have been settled. 
 
 " Rule 6. When the general committee are informed by any branch 
 commiittee that the majority of workmen in that branch have ac- 
 cepted their proposals, they shall give public notice, and then the 
 merchants may purchase goods, and the master manufacturers may 
 employ the same. 
 
 " Rule 7. Poor manufacturers shall be assisted by loans from the 
 fund of the Union. 
 
 '• Rule 8. The general committee shall endeavour to introduce 
 into the town workmen of the trades not incorporated. 
 
 "Rule 10. Addresses shall be published (a) to master manufac- 
 turers, urging them to prosecute workmen engaging in combinations 
 or conspiracies, the expenses of the prosecutions to be borne by the 
 Union ; (b) to the magistrates, urging them to enforce the laws ; 
 (c) to the Cutlers' Company, urging them to petition Parliament to 
 amend their Act by rescinding the restrictive clauses respecting non- 
 freemen and apprentices ; {d) to the overseers of the poor, request- 
 ing them not to relieve persons whose masters are willing to employ 
 them at the prices of 1813 ; (e) to workmen, urging them to continue 
 to work at the prices of 1813, till their respective cases shall be 
 decided upon, and proper relief afforded. 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 529 
 
 " Eule 12. A subscription shall be opened, and ten per cent, of the 
 sums subscribed forthwith paid." 
 
 A subscription list was presently commenced. The subscriptions 
 consisted of twenty-two subscriptions of £100 each, and a propor- 
 tionate number of smaller sums, none being less, however, than £5. 
 Altogether £6,749 was subscribed by 401 firms. 
 
 On the 28th of March there was a meeting of the committee of 
 the Masters' Union. The following resolutions were passed: — 
 
 " That no master (being a member of the Union) shall, under a 
 penalty of £100, employ any workman who shall be proved to have 
 paid money for the support of any man who has struck for an ad- 
 vance of wages. 
 
 "That if before the 30th of April, the grinders shall not have 
 agreed with the respective committees of their trades, no merchant 
 shall buy goods, nor manufacturer employ workmen, under a penalty 
 of £100, till the general committee shall give notice that all the 
 grinders in the respective branches have come to an agreement with 
 the branch committees. 
 
 " That any manufacturer who may be nnder the necessity of giving 
 notice to his grinders, shall give notice to them all." 
 
 So far as the repeal of the restrictive clauses of the charter of the 
 Cutlers' Company was concerned, the Masters' Association achieved 
 their object. They do not appear to have been so successful in any 
 other particular. The statement of 1814, which the Association was 
 called into existence to oppose, was obtained by the workmen, and re- 
 mained in force until 1818. Indeed the ill success of the Association is 
 acknowledged. For that reason it was the last systematic combination 
 on the part of the Sheffield masters. Hov/ far the conduct of the 
 workmen palliated the strong measures implied in the regulations of 
 which the substance has just been given, is a point on which it would 
 be improper to speak without fuller information than I possess. No 
 trade union has ever enforced severer restrictions on individual free- 
 dom, by penalties so heavy, even when the relative circumstances of 
 the classes of operatives and of masters are taken into account. 
 
 The arguments frequently urged and acted upon, that combinations 
 being unjustifiable in se, combinations of masters are nevertheless 
 necessary in resistance to combinations of workmen, seems scarcely 
 distinguishable from the now generally abandoned doctrine, that pro- 
 tective tariffs abroad should be met by a protective tariff at home. 
 
 In 1814, the restrictive clauses of the act of incorporation (which 
 had been slightly relaxed in 1801) were wholly repealed. "By an 
 act passed in that year, liberty of engaging, in any of the incorpo- 
 rated trades, either as masters or journeymen, was extended to all 
 persons, whether sons of freemen or strangers, whether they had 
 served an apprenticeship or no, whether they had a mark assigned 
 them by the officers of the Company or no, anywhere within the 
 limits of Hallamshire." * 
 
 * Huntet'i HallamsMTe, page 129. 
 
530 An Account of 
 
 Henceforth the policy of exclusion and protection, which the 
 masters had for some time been gradually relaxing, and had now 
 finally abandoned, was adopted by the artisans. The workmen 
 began to attempt by combinations, not merely to secure what they 
 deemed fair, or at any rate practicable, advances in wage, and to 
 resist unnecessary, or avoidable, reductions, but to aim at regulating, 
 by minute and stringent legislation, the conduct of their respective 
 trades. In order to understand the operations and influence of their 
 unions, some knowledge is necessary of the conditions of labour in 
 Sheffield. 
 
 In the manufacture of sharpened instruments, or cutlery, the 
 process of grinding is indispensable, and employs many hands. It is 
 generally carried on in establishments known in Sheffield as 
 " wheels." A "wheel" is sometimes a brick building of several stories, 
 sometimes a mere wooden shed, divided into several rooms, or as 
 they are called, "hulls," each hull containing several "troughs " (pro- 
 nounced " trows"). Each workman has his own trough, which con- 
 sists of the grinding and other wheels required in his trade. These 
 wheels are connected by "bands," which are often of considerable 
 value, with the steam-engine or water-wheel, by which they are set 
 and kept in motion. A rent, amounting on an average to about Ss. 3d. 
 a week, is paid to the wheel-owner, either by the grinder himself 
 or by his employer, for the space which the trough occupies, and for 
 the use of the power. So far as the collection of many hands in the 
 same building is concerned, the Sheffield " wheels " bear some resem- 
 blance to the factories of other towns, but the resemblance ceases 
 here. In an ordinary factoi-y, one trade only is, or can be carried 
 on. A "wheel" is often occupied by men of a dozen different trades. 
 In a factory, the manufacturer, whether as owner or tenant, is, at least 
 for the time being, absolute ; the building either belongs to, or is let to 
 him ; the machines necessary in the trade, the looms, spinning jennies, 
 &c., as well as the power that di'ives them, are his property; the em- 
 ployer finds everything but labour; the artisan supplies nothing but 
 his labour, which, — coming and going as the bell rings, — he renders 
 during certain stated hours of the day. In Sheffield, the order of things 
 is in every point different. The wheel-owners are, generally speaking, 
 a class distinct both from the operatives and the manufacturers, to 
 whom indifferently power and room are let out, trough by trough, in 
 the same building. The distinction between the capitalist and work- 
 man is not so sharply marked in Sheffield as elsewhere. The artisan 
 is to a certain extent a capitalist ; he contributes not only his manual 
 skill and strength, but, in many cases, pays wheel rent — the materials 
 only being found by the employer. In some exceptional instances, 
 employers provide tools (a term which includes power), and of late 
 some of them have erected sheds for their workmen. In these 
 " wheels," however, where they are not fully occupied by their own 
 men, space and power are let out, as by the ordinary wheel-owner, to 
 other manufacturers and artisans. Further, the Sheffield operative, 
 unlike the factory hand, is not tied to any stated hours of labour ; 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 531 
 
 he has a key of the wheel, and enters it at his own time, working 
 when he likes, and playing when he likes. Where a steam engine is 
 used, of course, he can only work when the power is on ; but where 
 the water-wheel is employed, there is no such restriction. It was 
 mentioned before a committee of the House of Commons, in 1833, 
 in illustration of the exorbitant wages alleged to be obtained by saw- 
 grinders, that, in some instances, men had earned in that trade as 
 much as 20*. before breakfast on Saturday morning. It turned out 
 that the person to whom alone reference could have been made, was 
 employed in a water-wheel, and had gone to work on Friday evening, 
 after the other men had left. By working all night, until the breakfast 
 hour next day, that is to say, for twelve or thirteen hours, he had 
 earned the sum specified.* This example, if it does not illustrate 
 the point which it was originally adduced to establish, shows the 
 independence of the Sheffield artisan with respect to his hours of 
 working. 
 
 While, therefore, the factory-hand is necessarily in a condition of 
 considerable dependence on the manufacturer, who has entire dis- 
 posal alike of the place, instruments, and conditions of work, this 
 authority on the one side and subjection on the other (legitimate 
 and necessary under the circumstances) scarcely exist in Sheffield. 
 The relation of employer and employed there has very little in it of 
 the relation of master and servant. 
 
 The small cost of tools necessary in the Sheffield trades, — not 
 more than a few shillings, in some of them, — the practicability of 
 home labour in almost all except the grinding branches, the nature 
 of the wheel-system, and the facility which the artisan has of selling 
 his goods to the factors (of whom something will be said after- 
 wards), make him very independent of the wholesale manufacturer. 
 The consequences of this deserve noting. Owing to the monopoly 
 which Sheffield practically has of the steel manufactures exer- 
 cised there, the employer cannot, in "the event of his men quitting 
 him, procure workmen from other towns. He therefore sometimes 
 has recourse in self-defence to a peculiar system of hiring, by which, 
 in consideration of a bounty, amounting often to several pounds, an 
 artisan contracts in writing to work for him at a fixed rate of wages, 
 for a year or term of years, in some cases for as many as seven years. 
 The rate is no doubt almost always lower by at least the amount of 
 the bounty than the average wages. When the bonus has been spent, 
 the workman naturally works " sour," as it is expressively termed. 
 Unprincipled masters, it is to be feared, not unfrequently take ad- 
 vantage of a temporary depression of trade, and of the destitution of 
 the operatives, to engage them for considerable periods at rates of 
 wages much lower than their average earnings would be. When, 
 however, as no doubt is often the case, a fair average rate for the 
 
 * See Mr. Samuel Jackson's evidence before the Select Committee of the House 
 of Commons on Trade and Manufactures, 1833 ; and his correspondence thereon 
 with the Saw-Grindera' Committee. — {Sheffield Iris, Nov. 19th and Nov. 26th, 1833.) 
 
 M M 
 
532 An Account of 
 
 period of employment is agreed upon, there is much that is advan- 
 tageous to both parties in this arrangement.* 
 
 The class of factors has been mentioned, as helping to make the 
 connexion between the manufacturers and artisans looser than it 
 otherwise would be. During the last thirty or forty years both 
 their number and influence have increased in Sheffield, from circum- 
 stances which will be stated. In the year 1816, says a Sheflield em- 
 ployer (Mr. Samuel Jacksonf ), " considerable losses -were incurred 
 in consequence of the depreciation which took place in the price of 
 goods on hand, and the stocks of most of the manufacturers were 
 unfortunately very great ; but since then few of the manufacturers 
 are in the habit of keeping stocks." The operatives, thrown out of 
 employment, became utterly destitute. Since, however, many of the 
 Sheffield trades can (as previously stated) be conducted at the 
 workmen's own houses, and involve no other outlay than the price of 
 the material and the small sum necessary for tools, they began to 
 manufacture on theii' own account. In order to force a market, in 
 the absence of any legitimate demand, prices were fixed ruinously 
 low. Of course the workmanship was bad, and the articles, made 
 only to be sold, were often utterly worthless. But the goods so 
 made, even supposing a demand for them, could not reach the 
 purchaser from the garret-workshop of the poor operative. They 
 must do so through the medium of another class, the factors. The 
 factors could obtain their own profit only by reducing the prices paid 
 to the ai'tisans — " the journeymen masters," or " little masters," as 
 they are called — to a point scarcely above the starvation level. In 
 many cases, to gain still further profit, they paid them not in 
 money, but in stuff. That they might compete with the factors and 
 the " little masters " in the markets created by undue cheapness, 
 many hitherto respectable manufacturers were obliged to adopt a 
 corresponding rate of prices, and, of course, of wages, to make 
 articles as worthless, and to pay in stuff. The deterioration of 
 Sheffield goods since the introduction of this system has been 
 rapid and great. Nor has the effect upon trade morality been less 
 prejudicial. The names and marks of reputable makers were 
 struck upon worthless articles to secure them a sale. Of course it 
 is not meant that these acts of dishonesty, though frequent, are any- 
 
 * The system called " pawning of workmen" bears sufEcient resemblance to 
 this to JTistify introducing a brief account of it here. It is said to be thns 
 managed : " A clever, but probably dissipated man— a good file-cutter, for instance 
 — contrives to get into debt with his master, say to the extent of £5. Then, 
 finding some other person willing to employ him, he ' pawns' himself to that 
 person for the £5 which he owes, and an additional sum of probably £5 more ; 
 chan^ng his employment again and again, as long as he can obtain an ad- 
 •ditional advance, as an inducement to leave his employer. In this way many 
 of the cleverest workmen in Shefield are, or were, in a state of quasi -bondage to 
 their employers, for advances which are generally spent in riot and dissipation ; 
 and of course the result is, that the man absconds, and the last employer loses 
 his money." — Sheffield Independent, June 17, 1854 (quoted from the Manchester 
 Guardian) . 
 
 t See his evidence before the Committee of 1833. 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 533 
 
 thing but exceptional. Some eminent firms are notable instances 
 to the contrary, and are indeed the chief sufferers from the abuses 
 in question. Many others, less known, are no doubt equally pure. 
 Nor is it intended to attribute the origin of the frauds to the circum- 
 stances in connexion with which I have spoken of them. There is, 
 as we have seen, evidence of their existence at the earliest period at 
 which anything is known in detail of the manufacturing industry of 
 Shefiield. Dishonesty in trade is probably as old as trade itself ; 
 but it will not be denied that the circumstances referred to have a 
 tendency to increase and perpetuate such malpractices. It is scarcely 
 necessary to add, — except in order to avoid misapprehension, — that, 
 among the factors as well as in every other class, there are fair and 
 honourable dealers, no less than those of an opposite character. 
 
 The results just described in general terms are the natural, though 
 not the legitimate or necessary, consequence of the fewness and cheap- 
 ness of the tools required in the Sheffield trades, and the small capital 
 necessary for their conduct. Apart from the influence of the factors, 
 *' little masters," — whose establishments are confined to their own 
 houses, and who themselves work as artisans with no other assist- 
 ance than the members of their own flimily can give — are able, by 
 saving in wages, to undersell the larger manufacturers. Hence 
 again arise the evils which have just now been adverted to. The 
 ■condition of "journeyman master" is, however, it should be re- 
 membered, the natural transition from the position of workman to 
 that of wholesale trader ; and though, in most cases, the develop- 
 ment goes no further, yet in others it is but one stage in an 
 honourable and successful career. As a rule, however, I believe, the 
 "journeymen masters" are inferior in skill and character to the 
 great body of artisans. Many of them, through inability to turn out 
 articles of sufficient excellence to earn the ordinary wages of their 
 trade, or through difficulty in obtaining employment, owing to their 
 want of steadiness of character, are obliged to manufacture on their 
 own account such goods as they are competent to produce, and to 
 sell them at any price they may be able to obtain. Others set up 
 for themselves in order to withdraw, in their quality of masters, 
 fi-om the supervision which, as journeymen, the Union would exer- 
 cise over them, — in which they do not always succeed. 
 
 In the Sheffield ti-ades, apprentices are bound, as a general rulej 
 not to the heads of firms, but to individual journeymen. This is 
 .a natural result of the loose connexion which subsists between manu-| 
 facturers and workmen, — of the circumstance that the latter are , 
 rather independent employes than servants. 
 
 An apprentice almost always lives with the journeyman to whom he 
 is bound, and who is responsible for his moral and physical well-doing. 
 As piecework is universal in the Sheffield trades, the apprentice is 
 required to earn a fixed sum weekly, according to his ability and 
 the time he has already served. Out of this he receives a proper- | 
 tionate allowance. When he has earned the amount stipulated, his 
 master has practically very little hold on him, except such as may be 
 
 M 31 2 
 
534 An Account of 
 
 due to the personal qualities of both ; and in too many cases he is 
 free to dispose of his time, iu self-improvement or in debauchery, as 
 he chooses. 
 
 The fact that most of the trades iu Sheffield can be car- 
 ried on by individual artisans in their own houses has had im- 
 portant social consequences. A greater proportion of workmen in 
 Sheffield are householders and have votes for members of Parliament 
 than is the case with the same class in any other town. This fact 
 deserves to be stated, because it has bearing on a question often 
 mooted, as to the likelihood of trades' unions applying their organi- 
 zation to political purposes, under an extended suffi'age. In this 
 connexion, a few words wiU afterwards be said with special reference 
 to the evidence as to the Sheffield unions given before the late 
 Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Elective Franchise, 
 the report of which has been recently published. — The superior 
 purity of the women of Sheffield may be not unnaturally referred to 
 this fact, that each family has its own separate house. The cellar- 
 residences of Manchester and Liverpool are unknown here. — Among 
 the men of Sheffield, drunkenness is said to be more general than 
 among other artisans, — in spite, no doubt, not in consequence, of the 
 circumstance now under consideration, and notwithstanding that in 
 command of the elements of physical -^vellbeing, and in intellectual 
 activity and cultivation, they are quite at the head of their class in 
 England. This habit is probably referable, in part, to the irregulari- 
 ties of their hours of labour, to the power they possess from the first 
 year of apprenticeship of making up for intervals of indolence and self- 
 indulgence by sjiells of hard work ; and in part, to the exhausting 
 nature of their work itself. Mr. Jackson, in the evidence before quoted, 
 states that from the severity of the manual labour necessary in the 
 Sheffield trades, work for a less number of hours there involves as 
 much bodily fatigue as more extended terms of labour elsewhere. 
 
 The practice of carrying on certain branches of trade within the 
 houses of the artisans, naturally leads to the employment of women 
 and children in those trades. 
 
 The character of the master manufacturers of Sheffield is not less 
 affected than that of the workmen by the peculiar conditions of 
 labour. As the odd term "journeymen masters" implies, the line 
 of demarcation separating the two classes from each other is easily 
 overstepped, and indeed can scarcely be accurately drawn. A 
 journeyman one year may be a master another, and a journeyman 
 again the year after. Masters and men, in consequence, do not hold 
 aloof from each other to the same extent as is the case in most places. 
 Not only have Sheffield manufacturers in many instances assisted in the 
 establishment, and contributed to the funds, of trades' societies with 
 a view to counteract the effects of the factoring and small-master 
 system ; but they have, in several instances, entered into joint com- 
 bination with the workmen, both for special trade purposes and for 
 more general objects. The comparatively unspeculative nature of 
 the business they carry on deserves to be recollected in this con- 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 535 
 
 nexion; it has prevented the sudden acquisition and the transmission 
 of large fortunes which ai-e common in other seats of manufacturing in- 
 dustry. The class of the nouveaux riches, and that which in the course 
 of a few generations springs from it, in which wealth and refine- 
 ment have become hereditary, are both of them infrequent. Smaller 
 fortunes slowly made, but without the risks attending the opportunity 
 of more rapid gains, are the reward which the Sheffield manufacturer 
 looks to. Hence, there are fewer cases of insolvency here, both in 
 ordinary times and in seasons of panic, than in any other manu- 
 facturing or commercial town of equal population and importance. 
 While, therefore, the artisans are of a higher type than those of 
 perhaps any other place, the master manufacturers are, with many 
 exceptions, somewhat lower in the scale of wealth and education than 
 the bulk of their class. In consequence, the gulf between employers 
 and employed is, on this account also, less wide and deep than that 
 which separates them elsewhere. 
 
 The facts which have been stated, explain sufficiently how it is 
 that since 1814 there has been no systematic combination among 
 the Sheffield employers. The cutlery and hardware manufactures 
 of the place, requiring comparatively small capital, are, for the most 
 part, in the hands of comparatively small capitalists, to whom a 
 protracted lock-out would be a hazardous experiment. Unskilled 
 labour is quite useless to supply the vacant places of the artisans 
 when on strike ; and skilled labour, of the kind required, is scarcely 
 to be had out of Sheffield. The workmen, on the other hand, in 
 case of a dispute, have almost always the resource of selling to fac- 
 tors at prices which do at least interpose a barrier between them- 
 selves and absolute starvation. 
 
 Further, combinations among masters are always laxer, not only 
 in Sheffield, but everywhere else, than combinations among work- 
 men. The former holding, and pushing to its extreme length, the 
 doctrine that individual competition is the only sound basis of trade, 
 unite reluctantly ; they are impatient of combined action, and ready 
 to break loose on the first legitimate or tempting opportunity. The 
 working classes, to whom co-operation is what competition is to the 
 masters, naturally stick more firmly and faithfully together. The 
 machinery of their permanent organizations is more efficient than 
 that of the masters' extemporized and temporary unions. Once 
 more, the number of separate parts of which most articles of the 
 Sheffield manufacture consist, and of successive processes through 
 which every part has to pass, being each the work of a distinct 
 trade, — a strike in one department involves cessation of work in 
 many others. The masters are thus dependent, to a greater extent 
 than in other trades, on small sections of workmen. The workmen 
 are more dependent upon, and therefore the more closely connected 
 with, each other. 
 
 The materials at my disposal do not enable me to give a complete 
 history of any one strike or trade society in Sheffield. Without 
 attempting therefore a systematic statement or continuous narrative, 
 
536 An Account of 
 
 I shall bring together, iu the best way I can, such scattered facts 
 as have been furnished to the Committee, or as I have myself 
 gathered chiefly from old volumes and odd numbers of Sheffield 
 newspapers of diiferent dates. 
 
 The price list of 1810 was, as we have seen, retained in most, if 
 not in all, of the Sheffield trades until 1814. In that year speculation 
 was rife in Sheffield, and there was a gi'eat demand for almost all 
 articles of cutlery. In consequence the workmen asked, and after a 
 struggle gained, a further advance on the list of 1810. Things re- 
 mained in this state until 1816, when dei^ression ensued, which was at 
 its height in 1820. In that year an attempt was made by the masters 
 and workmen conjointly to support the prices of 1810. A plan, 
 having this end in view, was suggested by the late James Mont- 
 gon|ery, the poet, and adopted shortly afterwards at a meeting held at 
 the Town Hall. The workmen agreed to subscribe towards a fund for 
 the relief of their unemployed, at the rate of Id. upon every shilling of 
 their wages ; and the manufacturers promised to contribute so much 
 a head for every workman in their service. Voluntary subscriptions 
 and payments out of th* parish rates were offered in furtherance of 
 the project. It was thought that in this way artisans out of work 
 might be maintained while the depression liisted without bringing 
 them into the labour market to compete with, and reduce below the 
 list of 1810 the wages of, those for whom there was fuU employment. 
 As might have been expected, the plan, after a trial of three or four 
 months, proved futile, and broke through, " and," says Mr. Milner, 
 " prices fell to as low a state as they were in previous to the attempt 
 being made." * After a short revival, trade was very dull, and much 
 disti-ess existed in Sheffield from 1826 to 1831. In 1828 a letter 
 was addressed to the Cutlers' Company, by the journeymen of 
 Sheffield, and published in the Sheffield Iris of August 5, 1828, in 
 which it was proposed that masters and workmen should enter into 
 co-operation, with a view to the improvement of affairs. The Cut- 
 lers' Company expressed their willingness to take part in any practi- 
 cable plan, and the journeymen suggested one which they regarded 
 as such. It did not, however, meet with the approval of the manu- 
 facturers, and the matter seems at present to have gone no farther. 
 
 Nearly two years later, the state of trade being still, in spite of a 
 partial revival, far from satisfactory, the journeymen made a second 
 overture to the employers. In the Sheffield Iris, of March 4th, 
 1830, a letter appears from "the Committee of Trades' General 
 Union," signed on their behalf by John Barker, president, and 
 addressed to the master cutler and company. The trades' committee 
 again propose co-operation between masters and men. They com- 
 plain that the increasing desire to sell cheap and manufacture cheap 
 has led to great distress, and then proceed to develop their plan 
 for what they call a "union of interests," in the following terms : — 
 
 " Supposing that there are 12,000 workmen employed in the various 
 
 * Evidence before the Commons' Committee in 1833. 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 537 
 
 branches of manufacture in Sheffield, and that each individual paid 
 Zd. per week, \d. into their own trade fund, and \d. into the general 
 fund applicable to all the trades, as occasion might require (for it 
 seldom happens that all the trades are in a state of distress at the 
 same time), — thej would raise the sum of £150 per week; more- 
 over [supposing] that each master manufacturer should pay \d. 
 per head for each person he employed, this would add one-sixth, 
 or £25 more, making the weekly sum total of £175, or upwards of 
 £9000 per annum." The sum thus raised, it was suggested, should 
 be under the joint control of committees of workmen and masters. 
 On the occurrence of a pressure so great that the masters could not 
 employ all their hands, " here would be a fund capable of giving 
 relief to the superabundant workmen, and preventing that accu- 
 mulation of little masters, who are compelled by their necessity to 
 commence manufacturers, and who, by their increase and the 
 quantity of work they are compelled to execute, lead to the con- 
 tinuance of the evil, by adding to the stock of a glutted market." 
 This plan, if adopted, would obviate, the trades' committee contended, 
 the necessity of departing from the regulated prices. " Let us 
 suppose, for one moment," they continue, "that nothing of the kind 
 is attempted, and that, under the present difficulties, a further depre- 
 ciation of 10 per cent, is effected. If each of these workmen, 
 estimated at 12,000, produces, on the average, goods for the home 
 and foreign market to the amount of 50s. per week for each person, 
 the weekly sum of their value is £30,000; the loss to the town 
 is £3000 weekly, or £156,000 per annum ; but if by temperate and 
 judicious measures, goods could be raised 10 per cent, from their 
 present low value it would make £300,000 difference from that of a 
 reduction. Exclusive of this great evil having arisen to the trade 
 since the alteration of the corporate laws as respects apprentices, 
 hundreds are now never bound at all, and thus a dissolute career is 
 opened to the youth of the town, which might be greatly remedied, 
 if not entirely removed, could a good understanding take place among 
 us, and the system of binding apprentices again be introduced as 
 acted on previous to the alteration in the corporate laws of 1814." 
 
 This desire on the part of the artisans to recur to the state of 
 things established by the old charter of the cutlers, significantly 
 illustrates the fact that the notions as to trade regulation, prevalent 
 among modern unionists, are an uncanceled remnant of an economical 
 doctrine once, and at no very remote time, almost universal. Even if 
 false, it is not likely that practices and opinions sanctioned by the 
 assent and example of centuries, should, though abandoned by others, 
 be speedUy exploded among a class particularly tenacious of usage 
 and precedent. 
 
 The letter of the Union Committee was taken into consideration 
 by the Cutlers' Company, and the proposed plan (which in principle 
 was similar to that brought forward by Mr. Montgomery in 1820) 
 dismissed by a unanimous resolution, framed in the spirit of the 
 reigning economical school : 
 
538 An Account of 
 
 " This Company is of opinion that nothing can advance the price 
 of labour and goods, but an increased demand for them, and with 
 this view of the subject they decline joining the Committee of the 
 General Trades' Union in the plan proposed by them." 
 
 In 1831 there was a partial revival of trade, and the workmen in 
 various branches began to enter into combinations to regain the 
 prices of 1810. Towards the conclusion of that year, however, many 
 large American orders were suspended, and ultimately counter- 
 manded. Prices came down much lower than they had ever been 
 before. The depression continued until 1833. About this time 
 a society was formed in Sheffield, called the " Freemen's Society," 
 composed of old freemen of the Cutlers' Company. It included both 
 masters and journeymen, to the number of about 300, the latter 
 forming a considerable majority. The object of the society was to 
 procure a re-enactment of the restrictive clauses of the Comjjany's 
 charter. It was dissolved soon after the parliamentary inquiry, in 
 1833. From the spirit of the resolution just quoted, it is probable 
 that the masters belonging to this society were most of them little 
 or journeymen masters. 
 
 In 1833, trade began once more to revive, and reached its maxi- 
 mum of prosperity in 1835 and 1836, when a panic occurred. The 
 depression which followed, continued from 1837 to 1842. 
 
 Early in the session of 1838, a select committee of the House of 
 Commons was nominated to inquire into the operation of the Act 
 6 G-eo. IV. c. 129, and generally into the subject of combinations 
 of workmen. In Sheffield it was believed that this inquiry was but pre- 
 liminary to a renewal of prohibitory legislation with respect to trades' 
 societies. On the 3rd of March, the filesmiths summoned a meeting 
 of workmen, at which deputations from twenty-six different trades 
 were present. A provisional committee was appointed, and a resolution 
 was passed, asserting in the broadest and briefest terms the opinion 
 of the meeting " That trades' unions are desirable." Subsequent 
 meetings were held, and a regular committee was formed to watch 
 the proceedings of the Legislature and to select and prepare evidence 
 to be submitted to the Commons' Committee. It was found, however, 
 impracticable that the Sheffield witnesses should be examined in 
 1838. They were assured that they stood first for the year follow- 
 ing, but unfortunately the committee did not ask, or, asking, did not 
 obtain, leave to sit again. In this same year a proposal was made 
 to the Unions of Sheffield to join themselves, in their character of 
 trades' societies, to the chartist agitation, then becoming fonnidable. 
 At a meeting of the organized trades, held to consider the proposi- 
 tion, on September 12, it was rejected by a majority of twenty to 
 twelve, on the ground that political questions did not fall legitimately 
 within the province of trades' societies. Nearly two months later, 
 however, they passed a resolution condemnatory of the corn laws, 
 alleging that the question in this case was one of trade rather than 
 of politics, and further guarding themselves from any compromise 
 of the neutral character of the societies, by describing themselves in 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 539 
 
 tlieir resolution, not as trades' delegates, but simply " as a portion 
 of the working classes of Sheffield." 
 
 Early in 1841, the delegates, under the impression that some 
 measure prejudicial to their Associations was contemplated by Mr. 
 O'Connell, and not unfavourably regarded by many members of both 
 houses, again met to concert measures of resistance. 
 
 In 1842, the distress of the artisans of Sheffield became extreme. 
 Their condition was brought before the House of Lords by Lord 
 Eadnor on the 16th of June. He stated that the number of inmates in 
 the poor-house was, in 1837, 261 ; in 1838, 401 ; in 1839, 386; in 1840, 
 443 ; in 1841, 490; at present (1842) 600. There were also, 1000 
 able-bodied people receiving out-door relief; and yearly payments 
 to the casual poor had increased from £715 in 1837, to upwards of 
 £15,000 at the (then) present time. The county-rate had increased 
 from £712 in 1837, to £2,453 in 1841. 
 
 On the 21st of July, Mr. Ward stated in the House of Commons 
 that 1,500 fathers of families were out of work, and dependent on 
 the parish; and that no fewer than from 10,000 to 15,000' workpeople 
 were wholly destitute. The casual weekly payments, said Mr. 
 Parker, his colleague in the representation of Sheffield, which in 
 1835 were from £16 to £24, now ranged between £371 and £424. 
 
 It is probable that these sums, and the disti-ess which" they 
 relieved, would have been much greater, but for the exertions of 
 trades' societies to keep their own members from the parish. 
 
 The Sheffield Independent of May 12th, 1842, gives " the follow- 
 ing abstract of the amounts of money paid to those workmen who 
 have been out of employ, belonging to the Table-knife G-rinders' 
 Society, from Nov. 13, 1830, to April 30th, 1842. 
 
 Nov.13. 1830 Dec. 24,1831 £1,832 
 
 Jan. 1. 1832 Dec. 24, 1832 2,572 
 
 1833 1833 742 
 
 1834 1834 653 
 
 1835 1835 60 
 
 1836 1836 40 
 
 1837 1837 2,650 
 
 1838 1838 2,417 
 
 1839 1839 2,279 
 
 1840 1840 3,546 
 
 1841 1841 3,003 
 
 1842 April 20, 1842 1,356 
 
 Total 20,630* 
 
 * The mode in which these sums were raised was not always so unobjee- 
 tionaWe as the object to which they were applied was praiseworthy. Early in 
 1840, a Sheffield magistrate stated that he had met a body of a hundied and 
 fifty table-knife grinders parading the town. On inquiring of them the pur- 
 pose of their assembly and procession, they told him that they were collecting 
 subscriptions fi'om members of their union who had refused to pay. In one 
 case they seized the tools of a defaulter, who had given a promissoiy note. An 
 action was brought against them under 6 George IV. c. 125, s. 3. The magis- 
 trate expressed his opinion that, morally speaking, the man was bound to pay. 
 For three years, the sums allowed by the table-knife grinders, to single men out 
 of employment was 6s. a week, to married men 8s. a week. 
 
540 An Account of 
 
 During the five years previous to 1842, about £15,000 were paid 
 to their poor, by the saw, edge-tool, file, Britannia metal, and silver- 
 plating trades. 
 
 The saw-makers, though numbering only 200 journeymen, had 
 paid ioL the five years previous to 1841 between £3000 and £4000 to 
 their unemployed. 
 
 The following statement (published about this time) exhibits the 
 sums " paid by ten only of the organized trades during four and a 
 half years of the [then] present commercial depression." .... 
 
 Edge Tool Forgers £1,450 
 
 Edge Tool Grinders 1,978 
 
 File Smiths 1,144 6 
 
 Pile Hardeners 470 
 
 Pile Grinders 1,129 15 11 
 
 Eazor Grinders 400 
 
 Saw Makers 3,539 14 
 
 Saw Grinders 1,506 6 
 
 Table-blade Forgers 1,406 16 
 
 Table-blade Grinders 16,131 4 8 
 
 Total £29,356 18 7 
 
 It is stated that during the same period the sums given in parisli 
 relief amounted to only £16,000. 
 
 In spite of these exertions, the file smiths alone of the Sheffield 
 artisans appear, at least up to 1839, to have succeeded in keeping 
 their members from the necessity of applying for parish relief, or 
 from soliciting the charity of individuals. The Table-knife Hafters 
 had work found them in 1840, on fields belonging to Mr. Ellison 
 and the Duke of Norfolk. They were employed in getting gravel, 
 and published an appeal to " Gentlemen, Builders, and Plasterers,"' 
 urging them to buy from them, and describing their sufierings, and 
 the struggle they had made against them. 
 
 A letter from a "Table-Knife Hafter," in the Sheffield Inde- 
 pendent of January 1st, 1842, states, that his branch is, with one 
 exception, the most numerous in Sheffield, giving employment to 
 1000 men, in addition to boys, women, and girls. The writer com- 
 plains that work, for which, six years ago,. 7s. was paid, is now worth 
 only 4s. 9d. ; that to do it requires two days of reasonable hours' 
 length ; and that out of the 4s. 9d., the artisan has to find all his. 
 tools and materials, such as rosin, whiting, oil, wire, glue, emery, &c. 
 Hard and protracted work is necessary for a man to earn 10s. or 
 12*. a week, free of expenses. 
 
 On the 13th of January, the fork-grinders issued an address, in 
 which they stated that their condition was becoming unbearable, and 
 implored aid. A man could earn in this trade, after paying for his- 
 materials, grinding, stamping, and other necessary expenses, no more- 
 than 6d. a day. 
 
 These are a sufficient sample of facts which might be cited to 
 illustrate the suffering at this time of the Sheffield artisans. 
 
 During this trying period, Sheffield was remarkably free from the- 
 political agitations which were prevalent in many parts of England,. 
 
Trade Combinatioiis in Sheffield. 541 
 
 and conspicuously so in the manufacturing districts of Lancashire 
 and Yorkshire. To their great credit, the most influential of the 
 trades' societies leaders, with the acquiescence of their followers, held 
 aloof from and resisted, as heretofore, all attempts to turn their organi- 
 zation to political account. An attempt to hold a meeting of delegates, 
 on Wednesday, August 17th, to consider the propriety of striking for 
 the Cha.rtp)-, was po thinly attended, that no conclusion could be arrived 
 at. Another meeting, called by five delegates, was held on the Monday 
 following (August 22nd). Very few of the trades took notice of the 
 summons, though all of them were invited to attend. The secretaries 
 of the grinders' unions issued the following protest, addressed — 
 
 " To the Public of Sheffield and its Vicinity. 
 " Whereas a placard has been recently posted on the walls, stating 
 that, ' At a meeting of several delegates of the trades of Sheffield, it 
 was unanimously resolved, that a meeting be held in Paradise Square, 
 on Monday morning, August 22nd, at ten o'clock, to take into con- 
 sideration the present state of the country,' and as the above an- 
 nouncement may lead to some misunderstanding in the public mind 
 in regard to trades' unions, we, the undersigned, being each of us 
 secretary to his respective trade, do deem it right to state that 
 neither we, nor the trades we belong to, have anything to do with 
 the aforesaid meeting. 
 
 " Thomas Nelson, Razor Grinder. 
 
 " Chaeles Skinnee, Scissor Grinder. 
 
 " Thomas Ne-wton, Pen Blade Grinder. 
 
 " Matthew Bailey, File Grinder. 
 
 " William Beoadhead, Screw Grinder. 
 
 " Geoege Caeeee, Edge Tool Grinder. 
 "N.B. The table knife and fork grinders not in union at the 
 present timg." 
 
 The meeting failed of its object, so far as any practical end was 
 concerned. Compai-atively few Sheffield men took part in the 
 proceedings, which were left in the hands of the strangers who were 
 the real promoters of the movement, — if anything so languid can be 
 called so. The complaint of one of the speakers that " The trades 
 of Sheffield were disorganized on political subjects," and that this 
 " was the fault of the leaders of the trades, who gulled them," in- 
 volves (contrary to the intention of the speaker) a high compliment 
 to the discretion and good sense of those trades and their leaders. 
 A recommendation that " all the trades should meet and resolve to 
 discuss politics," met with no general response. 
 
 In some other respects, the conduct of the Sheffield artisans, or 
 rather of a portion of them, was not so praiseworthy. Many outrages 
 took place ; rattening (as the stealing of workmen's wheel bands, 
 thus disabling their machines, is called) was frequent ; and several 
 instances occurred of worse crimes. Incendiary fires broke out at 
 more than one factory, and a "wheel" in Abbeydale was blown up 
 by gunpowder. In consequence, a letter was published, on the 
 
542 An Account of 
 
 19th of November, signed by seven artisans, urging that a meeting 
 of the trades be called to protest against these acts. The meeting 
 thus summoned, was held at " The Old London Prentice," on Thurs- 
 day, December 8th, when the following resolution was passed: — 
 " That it is the opinion of this meeting that the late outrages in re- 
 spect to rattening and destruction of property are a disgrace to a 
 civilized age, and that it is the height of insanity in any trade to 
 suppose that any good can come from the perpetration of such crimes. 
 That considering the strong and bitter feeling that must arise in the 
 minds of the influential part of the public towards these proceedings, 
 and the desire it must produce to put down trades' associations, it is 
 the interest and duty of this meeting to devise the best possible 
 means to check the further progress of such brutal scenes, and that 
 a select committee be appointed from the various trades to carry the 
 above into operation." 
 
 The trades represented at this meeting were the file smiths and 
 grinders, the saw makers and grinders, the saw handle makers, the 
 saw back grinders, the edge tool forgers and grinders, the Britannia 
 metal smiths, the razor smiths and grinders, the joiners' tool makers, 
 the brace-bit makers and grinders, the stone masons, and the scissor 
 forgers. Whether any scheme was devised of checking outrages, I 
 am not informed. If any were, it was ineffectual. 
 
 Early in 1843, distress still continuing, and many operatives 
 being out of employment, and, in spite of the exertions of the unions, 
 thrown upon the parish, the Board of Guardians addressed a recom- 
 mendation to employers, suggesting to them that they should divide 
 their work, so as to employ the greatest number of hands ; and re- 
 questing them to give information to the board of any case in which, 
 on any pretext whatever, employment on these terms should be refused. 
 The trades' delegates, no doubt regarding this as an attempt to infringe 
 upon their several lists of prices, met to protest against the course 
 proposed; and the guardians withdrew their recommendation. 
 
 In April, 1843, the committee of trades' societies, impressed with 
 the necessity of adopting decisive measures for the improvement of 
 the condition of the several trades, published an address to the artisans 
 of Sheflield and its vicinity. In it they attribute the evils under 
 which they labour to two causes — 1. The increase of machinery. 
 2. The manufacture of cheap and trashy articles. They state that 
 plans have been laid before them for the amelioration of their position. 
 These plans resolve themselves into three — 1. The formation of a union 
 to embrace all the trades of Sheffield. 2. That the manufacturers be 
 invited to enter into " a coalition with the workmen to check the 
 rotten system which prevents the former getting fair profits and the 
 latter fair wages." 3. The purchasing of land for spade-cultivation 
 by unemployed workmen, by which it may be made more productive 
 than by the use of the plough. The committee, without absolutely 
 recommending this scheme, seem inclined to it. If the table-knife 
 trade, they suggest, had adopted it, instead of spending £21,000 in 
 keeping their unemployed labourers in indolence, they Avould i^robably 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 543 
 
 have found their advantage in so doing. A numerous meeting of dele- 
 gates was held at the Old London Apprentice, on the 22nd of May, 
 to consider these suggestions. Some of the delegates complained of 
 the small interest, only 2 J per cent., which their money, when put into 
 the bank, returned them. It was lent to manufacturers to speculate 
 with and they lost it, or, as it was expressed, they were robbed, as in 
 the case of a bank which had recently failed. The advantages of in- 
 vestment in land were dwelt upon. Capital, it was urged, spent in 
 spade-cultivation gave a return of 45 per cent. ; whereas the plough 
 yielded only 28 per cent, profit. It was stated that the joiners'-tool 
 and brace-bit makers and grinders had resolved to take a piece of land, 
 and throw their unemployed men upon it. They had appointed a 
 committee of eight to meet once a week, and compare notes of their 
 observation and experience. It was proposed that shares be taken 
 to bear an interest of 5 per cent., for five years or longer, as might 
 be required. With a view, however, to the trial of a joint experi- 
 ment on a large scale, the trade in question had resolved to wait till 
 the present meeting, that all the trades might join. If they declined 
 to do so, their particular branch would make a venture for itself. 
 The delegates representing the file trade stated that their society had 
 passed a resolution doubting the practicability of the scheme, and re- 
 fusing to take any part in it. No conclusion was come to ujion this 
 subject, but a resolution was passed declaring : — 
 
 " That a Union of all the trades in Sheifield is absolutely neces- 
 sary, in the present alarming crisis of affairs, in order that such 
 measures may be resorted to as shall tend to place us artisans in a 
 better condition ; and that a committee be chosen, consisting of at 
 least one of each trade, to devise plans to effect that desirable end." 
 
 The discussion having once or twice threatened to assume a poli- 
 tical complexion, and a resolution (which was afterwards with- 
 drawn) on the subject of the National Debt having been proposed, 
 the delegate of the saw grinders (Mr. Broadhead) declared that 
 politics would disorganize the Union, and that his trade would not 
 have sent him to the meeting if they had expected that politics 
 would have been introduced. 
 
 The conclusion of the year 1843 and the following year were 
 marked by so many and such frightful outrages, directed against 
 unpopular manufacturers and non-unionist workmen,* that on No- 
 vember 13, 1844, a meeting of the master manufacturers was held, 
 at which it was resolved " That an Association be formed for com- 
 pensating any member who shall suffer any outrages in person or 
 property, to be called ' The Sheflield Manufacturers' and Trades- 
 men's Protection Society.' " At this meeting the general conduct 
 of trades' societies was freely discussed, and the grievances of the 
 masters brought forward. 
 
 A counter meeting of trades' delegates was held on the 20th of 
 November. They passed the following resolutions : — 
 
 * As I stall afterwards speak of trade outrages in Sheffield, I reserve details. 
 
544 An Account of 
 
 " 1. That this meeting is of opinion that tlie arguments advanced 
 by the mercliants and manufacturers, at their meeting at the Cutlers' 
 Hall, were in a great measure at variance, as respects the legitimate 
 objects the meeting was called for, viz., the better protection of life 
 and property ; that while the present meeting approve of every 
 effort to render the above more secure, it deprecates, in the strongest 
 terms, the illibei'al and ungenerous attacks that have been made 
 against associations of workmen ; and this meeting is further of 
 opinion, that the best means of defence is called for to gtiard more 
 efiectually unions of workmen against such ill-founded and slan- 
 derous imputations as have been ascribed to them. 
 
 " 2. That it is the opinion of this meeting, that a public meeting 
 of the inhabitants of this town be convened as early as possible, and 
 an invitation sent to the party who met at the Cutlers' Hall to dis- 
 cuss certain propositions which will be submitted to them through 
 the medium of the public press." 
 
 3. By the third resolution, a committee of nine was named, to 
 arrange the time of meeting, and to invite the masters to attend. 
 
 These overtures were not met by the masters in person, but eai'ly 
 in 1845 they found a champion in the member for the borough, the 
 late Sir H. G. (then Mr.) Ward. Plis vote upon the bill for re- 
 ducing the hours of labour in factories had dissatisfied some of his 
 constituents among the operative classes ; and in the discussion of 
 these differences the question of trades' societies Lad emerged. It 
 was determined that the points at issue between those societies and 
 the employers should be publicly debated by Mr. Ward and cer- 
 tain delegates on Mr. Ward's annual visit to Sheffield. The debate 
 took place on the 28th of January, 1845. Among the grievances 
 of employers, Mr. Ward mentioned the numerous outrages sup- 
 posed to be perpetrated at the instigation or with the connivance of 
 trades' societies, but which the delegates present denied to have 
 any connexion with Unions, and joined him in reprobating; the 
 practice among the workmen of quitting their Avork at an early 
 hour, or leaving it altogether, when the master had a contract in 
 hand, in order to prevent its completion at the time stipulated ; and 
 the interference of Unions in several trades with the individual 
 freedom of the artisans, so that no man was allowed to seek employ- 
 ment or make his own bargain with any master who might be will- 
 4.ng to take him. The master, he alleged, must obtain his men 
 from the Committee of the Union, and the committee sent such 
 men as they pleased. In some trades, masters were obliged to take 
 men in the order in which they stood on the roll of unemployed. 
 
 To this it was replied that no master was obliged to take an in- 
 ferior workman ; the master was informed of the character of the 
 man, whether he stood first or second on the list ; and no employer 
 was obliged to take one who was unsuited for the kind of work 
 Avhich it was required that he should perform. 
 
 The delegates adduced several instances of the beneficial effect of 
 the limitation of numbers in a trade, and of the short-time system. 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. Sio 
 
 Among them were the following : — In 1837, the combination of 
 makers of joiners' tools broke up ; the number of hands at that time 
 in the trade was 80; in 1841 it had reached 109, besides appren- 
 tices ; of this number two-thirds were receiving parish relief, or 
 working on the roads. By forming a union and limiting the hours 
 of daily labour to eight, they had succeeded in finding employment 
 for all their men, of whom two-thirds, were /wZZy employed. 
 
 The delegate of the sawmakers stated that in March, 1844, his 
 trade was in a very bad state. They had then in Union 210 men, 
 of whom 186 were wholly or partially employed, and twenty-four 
 were supported " on the box " (i.e. out of the funds of the Society). 
 By restricting the hours of labour they had made employment for 
 256 out of 265 members, at the expense of a payment of from 15 
 to 20 per cent, out of their wages. 
 
 Two years ago, the fork makers and grinders were in great dis- 
 tress. By forming a union, and restricting the hours of labour to six 
 hours a day, they were able to earn living wages. 
 
 To the assertion of the masters that the unions were driving 
 away trade from Shefiield by their restrictions, the delegates replied 
 that the trade of Sheffield was being ruined through the discredit 
 thrown on it by the spurious articles which the masters made, with 
 forged names and marks, of which some specimens were brought and 
 exhibited to the meeting. 
 
 On both sides in these discussions the reasoning post hoc ergo 
 •propter hoc, seems to have been freely employed. The fallacy of 
 attributing to a single influence that which in reality is the result of a 
 great variety of influences, and especially of assigning the fluctua- 
 tions of trade to a permanent and scarcely varying cause, — whether 
 the restriction of hands, or the frauds of unprincipled employers, — 
 scarcely requires pointing out. 
 
 The Sheffield Manufacturers and Tradesmen's Protection Society, 
 to which reference has been made, does not seem to have been inac- 
 tive. Complaints were made by the men that in the prosecutions 
 instituted by the Society against alleged offenders, the testimony of 
 the lowest witnesses was received, whom even the constables said 
 they would not believe on their oaths. The masters were charged 
 with inaugurating a system of terrorism. A meeting of trades' dele- 
 gates was held on June the 5th, 1845, to consider the course they should 
 take on this matter. As a sample of tlie proceedings on iho, part of 
 the Protection Society, of which the men complained, the following 
 case may be related. A member of a union having remonstrated 
 with another for violating the rules of the trade, by working on the 
 Tuesday afternoon, the latter complained to the Protection Society, 
 who caused the offender to be dragged from his bed at two o'clock in 
 the morning and lodged in prison. When the case should have come 
 on before the magistrates, the complainant did not appear. The 
 masters thereupon declared (untruly as the men alleged) that he 
 had been tampered with and kept away by the Union. This, of 
 course, is simply the account given by the men. It may be correct 
 
546 A?i Account of 
 
 or mistaken. The following resolution was passed by the meeting 
 of trades' delegates : 
 
 " That a consolidation of all the trades in Sheffield is called for to 
 repel by all legal and moral means the unjustifiable attacks made on 
 the part of a body calling itself, ' the Manufacturers and Tradesmen's 
 Protection Society,' and to protect those members of the trades who 
 may be assailed by that body yi their efforts to promote by legal and 
 moral means the welfare of their respective trades." 
 
 A committee of seven, with power to add to their number, was 
 formed to carry out the foregoing resolutions by drawing up rules 
 for the organization of the trades. 
 
 What, or whether any, measures immediately followed, I am un- 
 able to state. I find, however, that more than a year later, in October, 
 1846, there was a meeting of the trades' delegates, at which some 
 of the speakers made reference to a recent meeting of the employers 
 at the Cutler's HaU, at which the following resolution had been 
 passed : — 
 
 " That steps be taken for the purpose of inquiring into the causes 
 of these diabolical outrages, inducing a spirit of confidence and good 
 feeling between masters and workmen, and establishing the supre- 
 macy of law." 
 
 The appointment of a committee consisting of equal numbers of 
 masters and workmen, for the purpose of carrying the above resolu- 
 tion into efiect, was recommended. 
 
 This meeting was followed by one of the trades' delegates, who 
 resolved : — 
 
 " That it is the opinion of this meeting, that a protection society 
 for the defence of labour's rights is imperatively called for, in the 
 present artificial state of society in this town, and that the various 
 trades be earnestly requested collectively to form themselves into one 
 union, and that a contribution of ^d. ahead be paid by every person 
 of each trade." 
 
 By another resolution a secretary and committee were appointed 
 " to keep a watchful eye on the oppressions of capitalists and the 
 Legislature," and with power of calling a meeting of the trades when 
 they might deem it necessary. 
 
 The proposal for the appointment of a joint committee of four 
 masters and four workmen was acted upon, and many meetings and 
 discussions took place, extending from November 12, 1846, to Janu- 
 ary 13, 1847. They had no practical result ; one resolution, it is 
 true, was formally carried, since it received the votes of its proposer 
 and seconder, while the other members of the committee abstained 
 from voting, recommending that an application be made to Parlia- 
 ment for the amendment of the Act 6 Geo. IV. c. 96, in a sense, 
 of course, unfriendly to the combinations of working men. Two 
 hundred delegates of trades' societies met to protest against any such 
 step being taken, and T. A. Ward, Esq., with whom, as umpire, the 
 decision on this point had been left, having regard to the expressed 
 feeling of the artisans, determined against the application, which, 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 547 
 
 there is every reason to believe, was as little desired by the great 
 body of the masters as by the operatives. The joint committee was 
 at once dissolved, to the satisfaction, it is said, of all the members 
 of it. 
 
 From the foregoing statement, the action of the trades' societies of 
 Sheffield, collectively, as representative of the labouring classes of 
 the place, in their relations to the •employers as a body, may be 
 understood. A detailed history of each particular union, if the 
 materials existed for writing it, would exceed the limits at my dis- 
 posal. I therefore confine myself to some account of two of the 
 principal trades, which may be taken as types and samples of the 
 rest ; one of them perhaps the most united and powerful, the other 
 the weakest and least united of the trades of Sheffield, — I refer to 
 the file trade, and to the spring-knife trade. And first of the former, 
 respecting which, the facts to be mentioned have been drawn from 
 an examination of Sheffield newspapers for a succession of years. If 
 somewhat unconnected — and, in the absence of assistance from the 
 present representatives of the trade, I am unable to supply the 
 thread of continuous narrative which should connect them — these facts 
 are sufficiently numerous to be illustrative, and will, perhaps, leave 
 as true an impression of the conduct and operations of the trade as 
 a more systematic account would do. 
 
 In the year 1829, certain masters in this trade attempted to reduce 
 the wages of the men in their employment a penny in the shilling ; 
 other masters, and those the most respectable, opposed the reduction 
 as unnecessary. Much ill-feeling was excited by the dismissal of 
 men without proper notice, and successful actions were brought 
 against employers who had taken this step. Some employers, 
 giving proper notice, refused to supply the men during the unex- 
 pired term of service with work sufficient for their maintenance. 
 The men also it must be stated in some cases left their work without 
 the proper notice. A magistrate before whom some of these charges 
 were brought, not obscurely implied his sense of the merits of the 
 quarrel, by "entreating the masters, if they could injustice to them- 
 selves, to raise the scale, or meet the men half way," assuring them 
 that to do so " would be for their ultimate good, and for the public 
 peace." The strike lasted four months. The number of the turn- 
 outs was 400. They occasionally paraded the streets in bodies, making 
 collections from the passers-by. In the end, the men accepted a 
 price intermediate between that which they had first demanded, and 
 that which the masters had offered. 
 
 The filesmiths seem to have been impressed, by these and subse- 
 quent occurrences, with the necessity of forming and maintaining a 
 strong union. At a meeting held in the autumn of 1830, they 
 agreed upon the following resolutions : — (1) " We are of opinion 
 that any filesmith applying to the overseers of the poor for parochial 
 relief has a direct tendency to reduce wages, because he is sent by 
 them to any master, at such prices as he may think fit to give. 
 (2) That each member of the Union pay Is. a week for the sup- 
 
 N N 
 
548 An Account of 
 
 port of such of those workmen as may be out of employment. 
 (3) That any member withholding payment of his subscription for 
 three months shall receive such punishment as the trade may think 
 proper, unless his subscription be then paid." William Mills was 
 unfortunate enough to incur the im defined penalties of Rule 3. He 
 was seized by a number of men, carried to an inn, where an apron 
 was wrapped around 'his head and face, and then " laid upon a 
 board and ' saw-webbed,' in the presence of about a hundred work- 
 men. ... It was contended on the part of the defendants that 
 the complainant had agreed to the above resolutions, and that he 
 had not only agreed to, but proposed the third resolution." The 
 defendants, to the number of eight, were fined ten shillings each, and 
 dismissed with a caution. Neither the fine nor the caution seems to 
 have produced much effect. A few months later, towards the end 
 of December, two hundred filesmiths visited a shop where three 
 men were suspected of working under the statement, seized one of 
 them, carried him to their usual house of assembly, assaulting him 
 by the way, and placed him at one end of a large room, with three 
 candles burning near him, while all the others remained at the oppo- 
 site end of the room without lights. While in this situation he was 
 made to confess, through fear, that he had done wrong in working 
 for his employers, and to declare that he would never work for 
 them again. — {Sheffield Iris, Dec. 28, 1830.) The defendants were 
 committed for trial at Doncaster Assizes. 
 
 Passing over an intermediate period, we come to the year 1836, 
 which is remarkable for a protracted and memorable dispute between 
 the masters and journeymen of this trade. In November, 1835, the 
 journeymen prepared a statement of wages higher than had ever 
 before been given, going beyond that of 1814, and sent a copy of it 
 to each master, with a notification that the new scale was to come 
 into operation on the 1st of February, 1836. The masters prepared 
 a counter-statement to be submitted to the journeymen, which is 
 described as rather a jegulation than an advance of prices, since 
 only those articles were raised in price which were considered to be 
 lower in proportion than the rest. They further demanded that all 
 the restrictions hitherto enforced by the Union should be aban- 
 doned, and announced their intention of taking each as many 
 apprentices as he might think proper, though, other things being 
 equal, the preference should be given to sons of journeymen. The 
 masters further engaged, one with the other, that " if the workmen 
 of any of their number refused to work at the scale proposed, they 
 would all close their manufactories, and would render pecuniary 
 assistance to any of their neighbours who might be struck against, 
 and who might be unable otherwise to hold out till their workmen 
 should agree to their terms." 
 
 The struggle began early in February, though a few masters still 
 kept their manufactories open. The contest was embittered by 
 actions brought by workmen against the masters for discharging 
 them, and by masters against workmen for leaving their employment, 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 549 
 
 without the usual notice. With a view to the accommodation of dif- 
 ferences, a conference was held on February 16th, between three 
 master file manufacturers and three journeymen in the same trade, 
 in the presence of two magistrates, who advised both parties as 
 follows : — 
 
 "It is recommended, after hearing both sides, that the journeymen 
 do give up and abandon all the rules and regulations they have 
 hitherto acted upon among themselves, for regulating and restricting 
 the number of apprentices to be employed in the trade, as being 
 contrary to the spirit of the laws, and evidently destructive of the 
 freedom and prosperity of the trade. 
 
 " And it is recommended by the magistrates to the masters with 
 equal earnestness, that (on the recommendation to the journeymen 
 being complied with) each party should appoint a deputation forth- 
 with, to adjust and settle the scale of wages." 
 
 This advice, as may be supposed, entirely met the views of the 
 master file manufacturers ; and at a meeting shortly afterwards held, 
 they hastened to proclaim their acceptance of it by unanimously 
 passing a resolution adopting it, and appointing a committee of 
 twelve to regulate the scale of wages. 
 
 The following address also was signed by about 120 masters : — 
 
 " We, the undersigned merchants, manufacturers, and other in- 
 habitants of Sheffield, being deeply interested in the trade and 
 prosperity of this town, view with alarm the systematic unions 
 entered into by the workmen in most of the principal branches of 
 the cutlery and other trades, and in particular the pending conflict 
 between the masters and men in the file trades. The restrictive 
 regulations adopted by the Union, in reference to the number of 
 workmen and apprentices to be employed, also the exorbitant, prices 
 demanded, must, if complied with, eventually drive the trade from 
 the town, and bring the families of the infatuated workmen to 
 poverty and want, if not firmly and successfully resisted. 
 
 " We, therefore, hereby record our unqualified approbation of the 
 firm and decided stand which the majority of the file manufacturers 
 are now making, and urge the absolute necessity of the most perse- 
 vering and untiring opposition, till the men have acceded to the just 
 and reasonable recommendation of the magistrates." 
 
 Several circumstances occurred to embitter the quarrel. The 
 men's strike, as we have seen, had been met by a masters' lock-out. 
 But there were many men who were not in a position to strike, and 
 whom their employers were not fairly in a position to lock-out. 
 These were men who were at work on vsritten engagements for a 
 specified period. Some of those men were discharged without notice, 
 and appealed to the magistrates, who decided in their favour. There 
 were instances, it should be added, of similar breaches of agreement 
 on the part of the men. For those not under contract, it was con- 
 tended that the demand in November, 1835, of an advance to be 
 granted in the February following, formed a suflicient notice. 
 
 On the 15th of February, a deputation of ten workmen met ten 
 
 N N 2 
 
550 An Account of 
 
 master manufacturers at the Cutlers' Hall, to discuss with them their 
 points of difference, and the means of arriving at an amicable ar- 
 rangement. One of the working men stated that they were willing 
 to relax, but could not entirely abandon, their restrictions. There 
 were six hundred workmen in the file trade ; they were prepared 
 to take three hundred apprentices. At the request of the employers, 
 the deputation withdrew ; and in their absence, the masters passed 
 the following resolutions : — 
 
 " That providing the workmen annihilate all the rules and regu- 
 lations which restrict the freedom of the file trade, and that they 
 immediately re-commence work on the same terms as when the strike 
 took place, the masters will re-consider the list of prices within one 
 month ; that it shall receive the signatures of all the masters in the 
 file trade, who shall pledge themselves to observe the same, and be 
 considered binding on all parties; that any infringement of the list 
 shall be reported to them and remonstrated with ; and that two 
 forgers and two cutlers shall meet a deputation of the masters for 
 the purpose of arranging the same." 
 
 This resolution having been presented to the deputation of work- 
 men, was by them submitted, on the evening of the same day, to the 
 body of their trade, by whom it was resolved : — 
 
 " 1. That this meeting is of opinion that our rules and regulations, 
 as regards apprentices, are too limited, and consequently, will admit 
 of such alteration as the great demand for goods now requires. 
 
 " 2. That while this meeting is anxious to relieve the trade from 
 the above limitations, it is at the same time aware that to throw the 
 trade entirely open would be productive of the most disastrous con- 
 sequences to the journeymen at large, inasmuch as it would be the 
 means of overstocking the trade with hands, and thereby reducing 
 the general statement of prices. 
 
 " 3. That this meeting is determined to adhere to the statement 
 presented by the journeymen, unless some reasonable objection can 
 be shown to the Society." 
 
 The masters rejoined in the following resolution : — 
 " That it is the determination of this meeting, that until the work- 
 men accede to the proposition of throwing open the file trade, no 
 further conference can be held with them." 
 
 They added that the Masters' Committee continued to sit every 
 day, and would be glad to hear from the workmen, when they had 
 accepted their resolution, — to which, however, they who passed it 
 did not long adhere. 
 
 On the 19th of Fehru^y, it was proposed by the men at the Town 
 Hall, in the presence of the magistrates, that they should return to 
 work provisionally on the old prices, and that the masters should 
 meet them in friendly discussion of their demands, — the resolution 
 of the masters refusing to do so until all trade restrictions had been 
 abolished, being first rescinded. It was determined, accordingly, that 
 a conference should be held at the Cutlers' Hall, between six work- 
 men and six employers. 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 551 
 
 The journeymen now found it necessary to solicit pecuniary aid ; 
 the town was canvassed by them, and upwards of £3000 was raised. 
 
 On -t riday, February 26th, resolutions were passed by a commit- 
 tee of the Chamber of Commerce, condemning the strike. Two or 
 three days after, the organized trades (to the number of twenty) met, 
 and unanimously resolved : — 
 
 " '^^^^ this meeting highly approves of the conduct of the journey- 
 men fllesmiths, and hereby determines to support them, individually 
 and collectively, all that lies in their power." 
 
 An attempt was now made by the masters to procure hands from 
 elsewhere. By an advertisement which was inserted in Aris's Bir- 
 mingham Gazette, young men who understood the file trade were 
 invited to come to Sheffield. The expectations, if any were san- 
 guinely entertained, as to the results of this advertisement were 
 disappointed. For on the 18th of March a meeting of manufacturers 
 and merchants, specially convened by a committee of the Chamber 
 of Commerce, was held at the Cutlers' Hall, when the following 
 resolutions, among others, were passed : — 
 
 ''(3.) That as workmen co-operate, and as the journeymen file- 
 smiths have been assisted by other unions, it is necessary for manu- 
 facturers, and especially for those engaged in the file trade, to unite, 
 and that this meeting strongly urges the necessity of those manu- 
 facturers whose men are embodied in unions to meet and confer 
 together without loss of time, on the propriety of giving their men 
 a monthly notice." 
 
 " (2.) That as a number of manufacturers in the file trade are 
 carrying on their business to the great injury of the file-makers 
 generally and of the town, it is strongly recommended by this meet- 
 ing that all merchants should desist from purchasing files from such 
 manufacturers, and that they be respectfully requested not to con- 
 tribute to the prolongation of a conflict which has suspended one of 
 the most flourishing branches of our manufactures, but that they 
 abstain from giving out any more orders for files till the present 
 contest is terminated." 
 
 " (5.) That this meeting learns, with inexpressible surprise, that 
 some manufacturers of files have extensively engaged, and are now 
 actually employing, the workmen of other manufacturers whose 
 operations are suspended by the present strike, and are thereby 
 enriching themselves by means of a strike which not only threatens 
 the destruction or removal of the file trade, but is fraught with injury 
 to the town." 
 
 By the 6th resolution, thanks are voted to the Chamber of Com- 
 merce, for the interest it has shown in behalf of the master file 
 makers ; and merchants and manufacturers are invited to become 
 members of the chamber, as a body which aims to " protect and 
 extend manufacturing interests." 
 
 Resolution 7 returns acknowledgments for subscriptions to the 
 amount of £3000, and declares that, as the town has been imperfectly 
 canvassed, a collection will be made at the close of the meeting. 
 
552 A)i Account of 
 
 By the 8th resolution, the inhabitants of Sheffield are requested 
 to ■withhold pecuniary aid and countenance from the journeymen 
 filesmiths. 
 
 The 9th resolution expresses regret that master filemakers who 
 have pledged themselves not to employ workmen from other esta- 
 blishments, should continue to do so. — Sheffield Independent, 
 3Iarch 19, 1836. 
 
 The Independent of the week following announces that negotia- 
 tions have been resumed between the artisans and their employers, 
 on the basis of a modification (not a total repeal) of the existing 
 restrictions on the freedom of the trade. 
 
 These negotiations not proving immediately successful, a meeting 
 was held of delegates from the different trades, who pledged them- 
 selves to continue to the workmen the most strenuous support. 
 
 On the 19th of April, the Sheffield Independent announces that 
 the strike is at an end. The workmen obtained a substantial advance, 
 though not to the extent they had demanded. On the other hand, 
 they conceded certain relaxations of the restrictions unnecessarily 
 impeding the freedom of their trade, as very early in the strike they 
 had undertaken to do, though declining to throw it entirely open, or 
 abandon the Union. In a final address, the workmen gratefully 
 acknowledge the assistance rendered them by the members of the 
 various trades, not only in Shefiield but also in Birmingham, 
 Wolverhampton, Manchester, Warrington, and Leeds. They thank 
 the masters for the courtesy with which they have been met by 
 them in conference, and express a hope that amicable feelings wiU 
 be restored and permanent between employers and employed. 
 
 The list established as the result of this strike remained in force 
 for many years. 
 
 In 1842, the secretary of the file trade stated that during the 
 period of distress, which was at its height in that year, the manu- 
 facturers had continued to pay the prices of 1836 for all work done. 
 In 1845, in the course of the discussion with Mr. Ward, the same 
 person stated that no dispute on the subject of wages had occurred 
 since the strike of 1836, though there might have been some " under- 
 hand nibbling" at prices. In 1846 there was an advance of wages ; 
 but in 1848 the trade again was in a very distressed condition, and 
 some of its members made application for parochial assistance. At 
 a meeting of the trade shortly afterwards (April 19), it was unani- 
 mously resolved that the men should be withdrawn from the parish, 
 and that the funds raised for the payment of funerals should be 
 directed to their support. The reason for this step was, that 
 although the great body of respectable manufacturers were in favour 
 of the existing statement, yet some of the masters were meditating 
 an attack upon it. It was asserted that during the preceding six 
 months, £400 had been expended by the file trade in support of 
 such of its members as were out of work. 
 
 In 1853, the workmen in the file trade succeeded in obtaining, 
 after a short controversy, another advance of wages. The masters, 
 
Trade Cotnbinations in Sheffield. 553 
 
 after holding two meetings, at whicli they unanimously resolved 
 "that the advance, in the present state of the trade, is at variance 
 with its true interests, and shall be resisted," held a third, at which 
 they determined to concede it. The high hand with which the jour- 
 neymen carried matters is shown by the following extract from a 
 paragraph in which a local journal states the fact of the concession : 
 " The men held a meeting and issued a circular, on Monday, in 
 which they announced that some of the men to whom the advance had 
 been given had received a month's notice, and if at the end of the 
 month they were thrown out, they would not return to work till their 
 expenses had been paid by the employers. It was also agreed, that if 
 the men out on the 25th were not re-engaged before the 28th of July, 
 they would not resume work till the masters had paid their expenses. 
 It is stated that, in some cases, the men have been fined for work- 
 ing contrary to the rules of the trade, and seized their goods or tools 
 to compel payment." (Independent, Aug. 6, 1853.) 
 
 The flourishing condition of the trade is shown by the fact, that at 
 this time the Union resolved on returning to every member of the 
 trade the sum of 20s. per man, and 6s. per boy. This statement is 
 made in the same number of the same journal as that from which 
 the extract just quoted has been taken. A similar repayment had 
 been made in 1852. 
 
 In November, 1853, the men determined on another advance, ac- 
 knowledging at the same time a deficiency of artisans in the trade, 
 and the necessity of supplying that deficiency. A conviction of the 
 necessity seems to have been forced upon them by the "illegal" 
 attempts made to meet it. In a letter published in the Indepen- 
 dent, after acknowledging that " the harvest in the file trade has of 
 late been so numerous as to require a greater number of hands to 
 reap it," the writer goes on to add : " there is no doubt but if the 
 trade had been honestly and uprightly applied to, that it would have 
 allowed an inlet sufficient to have met all cases. But there are in 
 the file trade, as there are in all trades, men who for a trifling gain 
 have no scruples at overstepping reason and rule, and these men 
 have without any solicitation or sanction taken to themselves and 
 instructed what are considered illegal boys, that is, boys who are not 
 the sons of freemen filesmiths." These offenders are charged with 
 ill-treating the boys, with a view of getting their indentures broken, 
 and new apprentices bound. On Tuesday, January 2nd, the file 
 trade resolved to give a month's notice to their employers, of a new 
 statement of prices, amounting on the average to an advance of ten 
 per cent, on the (then) existing rate of wages, — an advance which, 
 " taken in connexion with the increased price of fuel and materials," 
 would involve, the masters alleged, a diminution, by "at least ten 
 per cent., of the discount allowed to their customers." 
 
 On the 16th of the same month, the trade resolved to postpone 
 the advance demanded until the 3rd of April, and passed resolutions, 
 " That the men from Birmingham and other towns shall be admitted 
 into the trade of Sheffield, subject to paying any sum that the Exe- 
 
554 An Account of 
 
 cutive anil G-eneral Committee shall think proper according to cir- 
 cumstances . . . and that the trade is fully prepared to consider 
 the question of admitting a limited number of boys into the trade." 
 
 After repeated meetings of workmen and employers, and the 
 canvassing of counter-propositions, the following terms, agreed to 
 by the journeymen on the 2nd of February, were presented to, and 
 accepted by, the manufacturers. 
 
 " That every journeyman, of thirty years of age, not having a boy, 
 girl, or wife, working, shall be enabled to take an apprentice. This 
 was passed with a view to its being a permanent rule, if the trade 
 should continue good ; and it was resolved that it should come into 
 operation in the gradual way the manufacturers suggested — 100 boys 
 to be taken in April,* by the men qualified in accordance with the 
 previous resolution, the individuals who should have them being 
 selected by ballot. It is, therefore, to be a custom, if trade shall 
 continue good, for every journeyman, thirty years old, not having 
 a member of his family working, to take an apprentice. 
 
 " 2. In case of there being a scarcity of forgers, they are to be 
 taken from the strikers. 
 
 " 3. The journeymen agree to instruct one apprentice for each 
 partner in the firm. It is explained that this resolution does not 
 set aside the original right of each master to take two apprentices, 
 though that is partially nullified by the men refusing to instruct 
 [more than one of] them. A deputation from the men met the 
 manufacturers at the Cutler's Hall (on Friday, Feb. 3rd), when a 
 resolution was adopted accepting as satisfactory the terms stated in 
 the resolutions of the journeymen, and agreeing to pay the new 
 scale of prices in April next." — Sheffield Independent, February 
 4th, 1854. 
 
 I am not aware whether any strikes have occurred in the file trade 
 since the date of that just described. 
 
 Previous to the passing of these rules, file forgers and cutters were 
 allowed at the age of twenty-five to take an apprentice, who must be 
 the son of a freeman filesmith. A second boy might be taken when 
 the journeyman was thirty. Masters were allowed two apprentices, 
 whom, however, the journeymen refused to teach. But owing to the 
 limitation of the privilege of apprenticeship to the sons of freemen, 
 many journeymen could not obtain apprentices. Boys above sixteen 
 years of age might not be employed at certain descriptions of work, 
 which were deemed too easy for them, and likely, if protracted, to 
 interfere with their improvement. This it was said greatly interfered 
 with the conduct of business, and led to the delay of orders, the 
 manufacturers not being able to obtain additional apprentices. | 
 
 The employment of women in certain branches of the file trade 
 
 * The masters proposed that 300 new apprentices should be taken, 100 in 
 April, 100 six months later, and 100 in twelve months. 
 
 t See a paper read before the Sheffield Mechanics' Institute, by Mr. Henry 
 Turner, on the manufacture of flies, Sheffield Independent, Oct. 30, 1852, also Inde- 
 pendent, Nov. 17, 1852. 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 555 
 
 has always been strenuously resisted. In 1844 an attempt was made 
 to prohibit it altogether. The attempt was unsuccessful. It was, 
 however, renewed in 1847. In that year, out of 200 women and 
 girls employed, 173 were the wives and daughters of workmen. At 
 first, it was determined that all female hands should be summarily 
 excluded ; but this resolution was afterwards modified by the con- 
 cession to widows and orphans of leave to work. A fine of £3 was 
 imposed on all who should allow their wives and daughters to cut 
 files after a certain date ; and another fine of £3 was imposed on all 
 persons who should whet or grind chisels for female file cutters, 
 being the wives or daughters of workmen, the informer in each case 
 to have half the penalty. The masters, and some even of the work- 
 ■ men, resisted these resolutions ; and a compromise was ultimately 
 efiected, by which it was agreed that women should be excluded 
 from what was (by usage) " men's work." This limitation of women's 
 work does not seem to have been effectual ; for, in 1851, a commit- 
 tee of twenty-one members of the trade was appointed to ascertain 
 the number of women working, " married and unmarried, legal and 
 illegal " ; and afterwards another committee of four to devise means 
 of confining the women to particular kinds of work. 
 
 I extract from the Independent of May 19, 1849, the following 
 statement of the policy and operations of the Filesmiths' Union. It 
 must be taken, of course, with the qualifications which the fact of 
 its proceeding from the officers of the Union will suggest to every 
 reader. 
 
 " We are indebted, for the facts we have to state about the file 
 trade, to some of the officers of the Filesmiths' Union. This is one 
 of the largest and best conducted of the unions. The policy of its 
 most influential members has been to maintain amicable relations 
 between the men and their employers, and they have succeeded to a 
 remarkable extent. The Union contains 2000 workmen, in and 
 about Sheffield. They are divided into seventeen districts, eleven 
 in the town and six in the villages. There is also in connexion with 
 the Union a district at Manchester, containing 100 men; and one at 
 Newburn, near Newcastle, containing some twenty-five members. 
 In the spring of 1847, the Union possessed a fund of nearly £5000, 
 and at that time all their hands were employed. During the summer, 
 trade began to slacken, and six, twelve, and twenty men have weekly 
 needed aid from the fund. As autumn came on, things grew worse, 
 and the stock became reduced. At first, the rate of contribution by 
 members to the fund was sixpence a week for each man, and two- 
 pence for boys. This rate being found insufficient, was doubled for 
 those moderately employed, and quadrupled for those in full employ- 
 ment. But that being still inadequate to the emergency, a general 
 meeting of the trade resolved to contribute \^d. in the shilling out 
 of each man's earnings. This Union has paid to unemployed mem- 
 bers, in twenty months, from 16th September, 1847, to May, 1849, 
 no less than £16,980. They have had as many as 530, about a 
 fourth of the whole number, unemployed and chargeable to the funds at 
 
556 An Account of 
 
 one time. The number is now reduced to about 330. The greatest 
 amount they have paid to the unemployed in one week was on the 
 6th January, 1849 ; since that time the amount has decreased, so 
 that last Saturday they paid only £152 0*. 5rf., and it is expected 
 that the payments of this week will be £10 or £11 less. The rate 
 of contributions by members to the fund has now been reduced from 
 \\d. to \d. in the shilling. In addition to these contributions, \d. 
 per head is paid for each funeral of a member or his wife. So com- 
 pletely does the trade provide for the members, that there are not 
 more than ten or twelve men belonging to the trade who are chargeable 
 to the Unions of Sheffield and Ecclesal, and these are persons who 
 have not complied with the rules of the Union. . . . Private persons, 
 during the period of depression, have lent to the trade more than 
 £500, with no further security than the simple acknowledgment of 
 the secretary that they had received the money for the use of the 
 trade. . . . We are informed that the affairs of this trade are 
 managed in a very economical manner. Each district has its com- 
 mittee meeting every Monday to receive the contributions of its 
 members, and to pay over the money to the general committee, con- 
 sisting of three members and two secretaries (one member being 
 changed every month in rotation, so that no member remains in office 
 longer than three months). The general committee meets each 
 Monday to receive the money from the districts, and each Saturday 
 to disburse it to the members unemployed. The business of the in- 
 termediate days, unless under peculiar circumstances, is transacted 
 by the secretaries. By this arrangement the charges for manage- 
 ment are kept at the minimum. Every month, a balance-sheet of 
 income and expenditure is made out and communicated to the mem- 
 bers of the trade. A general quarterly meeting is held, at which 
 auditors are appointed to examine the monthly financial state- 
 ments of the preceding three months, and report upon them to 
 the next meeting. The district committees sit at various public- 
 houses, but the business of the central committee is transacted at a 
 private office which they occupy in Coal Pit Lane; in premises con- 
 nected with this office, the unemployed members of the town dis- 
 tricts meet in portions twice a day, so arranged that each man 
 answers to the roll-call once in two days. This arrangement affords 
 great facilities when trade is improving, and when daily applications 
 are made at the office of the committee for hands, to meet those ap- 
 plications promptly. It has been a most just complaint against some 
 unions that they interfered with the right of masters to choose 
 what men they would employ, and required them to take such as 
 might happen to have been longest chargeable to the fund. We aie 
 assured that nothing of the sort is done in this trade. If a master 
 wants a particular man who is out of employ, that man is found 
 and sent to the master, whether he be wanted for regular employ- 
 ment or for a casual job; and so good is the understanding between 
 the masters and the officers of the Union, that it is very com- 
 mon, if the master have no particular choice as to an individual, to 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 557 
 
 describe the qualities of the man he wants and leave the Union to 
 recommend the person. The file trade have had the good fortune 
 to pass through the trying times they have had to endure without 
 suffering disruption of the existing agreement between themselves 
 and their employers as to the rate of wages. In October last, a 
 revision of the prices for some of the extra paid articles was prepared 
 \hj the masters and agreed to by the men, after some resistance on 
 the part of the forgers, whom it principally affected, and who with- 
 drew for a few weeks from the Union. It is to the credit of this 
 Union that, without violence to property or person, but by a mode- 
 rate and conciliatory policy, a kindly feeling has been preserved 
 between the employers and the employed amid circumstances of great 
 difficulty and suffering. . . . We may add that the Union does not 
 confine itself to the relief of the unemployed. Men unable to 
 work on account of age have \s. 6d. a week if single, and 2s. if 
 married. Funeral money to the amount of £5 is paid on the death of a 
 member or his wife, and of £1 on the death of a youth who had begun 
 to work ; with the gratuitous use of various articles necessary for 
 funerals. The funerals of children of men out of employ are generally 
 provided for by a voluntary contribution among the men according 
 to their circumstances. This is the case of the Union, not over- 
 charged, though no doubt things might be set down on the contra side." 
 
 Part of the per contra side of the file-makers' account is implied 
 in some of the statements that have preceded. The following facts 
 exhibit heavier items to the discredit of the Union. 
 
 In May, 1830, Mr. Ibbotson, of the Globe Works, discharged from 
 his employment some members of the file trade, whom he believed to 
 be of loose character. In July the remaining forgers turned out, by 
 order, as they said, of the committee of their Union, and with a view 
 of compelling the re-employment of the men dismissed. Not suc- 
 ceeding, they turned in again. Soon after, a bottle, containing gun- 
 powder, which, however, did not explode, was thrown through the 
 window of the manager of the file department. Many of the work- 
 men were attacked in the same way ; but they adopted the precaution 
 of placing blankets before their windows, and the bottles rebounded 
 into the streets, and there exploded. On the 30th of September, an 
 iron pipe, charged with powder was put through a window at the 
 Globe Works, and fired by a fuse. The attempt failed ; but a reward 
 of £1000 was offered for the detection of the intending perpetrator 
 of the outrage. On the following day, a notice, in these words, was 
 posted on the gates of the Globe Works : — 
 
 " If I have to visit you again, I shall make sure, when life may be 
 sacrificed ; but if such should be the case, then their blood will be 
 upon his own head." 
 
 The secretary of the file trade stated, that Mr. Ibbotson had 
 made frequent attempts to reduce prices below the list of 1836, and 
 was in the habit of refusing to employ men sent him by the Board of 
 Guardians, unless they would work for less than that statement. 
 
 In August, 1854, a tin bottle, holding about a pint of gunpowder, 
 
558 An Account of 
 
 and with a lighted fuse attached, was thrown at night, tlirough the 
 window, into the bedroom of William Wass, file-grinder, of 283, 
 Allen Street. He succeeded in throwing it into the street, where 
 it exploded hannlessly. Wass had for some time, under peculiar 
 circumstances, been allowed by the Union one more than the regular 
 number of apprentices, on condition of his paying an increased contri- 
 bution—though, of late, the Union had refused his subscription. He^ 
 had three weeks before, to supply the place of one of the apprentices, 
 who was ill, engaged a journeyman from Lancashire. The journey- 
 man had not served an apprenticeship to the trade. To this circum- 
 stance, though Wass was not aware of it, he attributed the outrage, 
 and forthwith discharged the workman. 
 
 Other cases might be added to these ; but those which have been 
 given sufficiently serve the purpose of illustration. The circum- 
 stantial evidence does not amount to legal proof of the complicity of 
 the Union in these outrages ; but it certainly involves it in some- 
 thing more than grave suspicion. It cannot be doubted, that vinions 
 so powerful as those of the file trades, could, if they chose to use their 
 influence in that direction, effectually discountenance ofiences such as 
 the above, and aid in the detection of those concerned in them. 
 
 The history of the Penknife trade is in marked contrast with that 
 of the file trade. In 1859 it was not in union; and except at intervals, 
 and for short periods, it never has been so. In 1810 a statement of 
 prices was agreed on between the masters and men in this branch, 
 and signed by the magistrates. In 1814 the men struck, and obtained 
 an advance of from 10 to 25 per cent. Trade began to decline in 
 1817, and in 1820 the spring-knife cutlers were in great distress, 
 though they had paid not less than £4000 per annum, in order to 
 maintain their statement. In an address published by them in 1829, 
 they complain that " the master manufacturers take off from 25 to 50 
 per cent, from the prices of 1810, leaving their earnings only from 9s. 
 to lis. per week." In 1831 anew statement was agreed on, which, 
 though an advance upon the actual rate of wages, was 25 per cent, 
 below that of 1810. To maintain wages the penknife grinders about 
 this time formed a union, the rules of which were very rigid. No 
 workman could take an apprentice until he was twenty-eight years 
 of age. He could not take a second apprentice until the former was 
 eighteen years of age. 
 
 In 1835 and 1836 this usually depressed trade shared the pros- 
 perity then general at Sheffield ; and though it had ceased to be in 
 union, it obtained an advance of prices, gaining in some cases the 
 wages of 1814. In 1837 trade was again slack. From that date 
 onward the penknife cutlers were in great distress. In 1842 the 
 grinders in this branch asked for an advance, and in an appeal to the 
 public gave an account of their sufferings, and of the causes to which 
 they attributed them. After asserting that the list they ask for is 
 from 15 to 20 per cent, under the statement of 1831 (" the most 
 reasonable statement ever agreed to by any class of workmen"), they 
 go on to say : — " At this moment there are many of our members 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 559 
 
 that have no tools to work with, but are under the necessity of 
 working with any one who will find them wheel room and tools to 
 work with, and even under these humiliating circumstances have 
 not the means of paying the necessary expense, which will at least 
 amount to 5s. or 6s. per week. The amount of debt contracted in 
 this way is very great. In the next place, those who have wheel 
 room and tools are generally involved in debt, so much so that if the 
 proprietors of the various wheels were to make a distraint, we should, 
 with very few exceptions, be without tools to work with. As a 
 proof of the truth of the above statement, we will state the amount 
 of arrears owing by pen-blade grinders alone at three or four wheels. 
 At the first, £250 ; at another, upwards of £300 ; at the third, 
 £500 ; and at the last we shall mention, £1000. So that at four 
 wheels the arrears of rent owing at this moment are above £2000 ; 
 and could all the arrears owing at the different wheels be ascer- 
 tained, they would, we believe, amount to several thousands more. 
 And then it is a well-known fact, the great majority are greatly in 
 debt to shopkeepers and almost every other person with whom we 
 have to do, without the least apparent prospect of ever being able 
 to extricate ourselves." 
 
 They describe the causes of these evils in the following terms : — 
 "In 1831, there were no articles that could be called useless ; there 
 were many that were common, as always was the case, but they were 
 well fitted for the object that was intended, not excepting the Wadsley 
 flat-hack. About 1831, the commonest blades began to be polished; 
 and the demand for them has continued to increase, articles thus got 
 up having a finished appearance, being in fact, an imitation of fine cut- 
 lery. Competition, however, in the production of these imitative arti- 
 cles has now been carried to such an extent, that the prices for grind- 
 ing them are reduced so low that they cannot be ground to be useful, 
 or fitted for the purpose desired. To such an awful degree is the pro- 
 duction of these absolutely useless articles carried, that they leave 
 neither profit to the respectable manufacturer, wages to the artisan, 
 nor utility to the purchaser. We have ascertained that, at this 
 moment, the knives of this kind made weekly contain 108,000 blades. 
 The prices for making these sham articles, in 1831, were low, being 
 regarded as extremely common, but even these prices are now reduced 
 50, 60, and in some cases 75 per cent. — But while there are many 
 manufacturers imposing on the poorer classes, at home as well as 
 abroad, it is an act of justice to state that there are some firms who 
 abstain from such impositions, and one at least who has not made a 
 • single spring-knife, known in the trade by the term crasher. The 
 amount of knives manufactured at this time exceeds that of any 
 former period, but in value is vastly less than in 1836." 
 
 Dr. Holland, who quotes this address in a pamphlet published 
 about the time of its appearance,* states : " Of the 319 workmen in 
 
 * TUe Mortality, Suffering, and Diseases of Grinders. Part II. Penknife Grinders. 
 By G. Calvert Holland, M.D. Sheffield and London. 1842. 
 
560 An Account of 
 
 this branch, 41 are paid wholly or partly in stuff, ^nd a short time 
 ago a much greater proportion," 
 
 In 1843, the various branches of the spring-knife ti-ade, including 
 the hafters, forgers, grinders, and spring-makers, who had hitherto 
 had their separate combinations, united in a society, to which they 
 gave the name of " The Mutual Aid." In an address published by 
 the committee of this society, and dated October 19, 1843, they refer 
 to the fact, that " no misunderstanding or dispute exists between 
 the respectable employers and their workmen ;" and state that, 
 " on the contrary, promises of supjjort have been made by some of 
 the most influential manufacturers." They then proceed to enume- 
 rate the evils to which they attribute their present " proverbially 
 degraded" condition, and which, with the countenance of some of 
 the most considerable employers, they intend to combat. 
 
 " Among these evils," they say, " those of false marking, and the 
 manufacture of cheap and trashy articles, are the most prominent 
 and baneful. To the former, the attention of a respectable and 
 honourable company has very jsroperly been directed, — the only 
 regret is, that it should have been so long delayed. The latter evil 
 is one ... to remedy which the committee are about to use their 
 best efforts, and to enable them to do so effectively is the object of the 
 present appeal. . . . 
 
 " In the spring-knife trade, during the last few years, a class of 
 manufacturers have arisen, who, without capital or correct moral 
 principles to regulate their conduct, have commenced a system of 
 dishonourable competition with the respectable masters. To enable 
 them to do so, the wages of the workmen have been reduced — the 
 articles manufactured have been deteriorated in quality as well as 
 reduced in price ; these have been introduced into an already over- 
 stocked market, clogging up every avenue, deceiving the customer 
 by substituting an inferior for a genuine article, bringing disgrace 
 upon themselves, and ruin upon the town and its manufactures." 
 
 They conclude by expressing the conviction that " unless some- 
 thing is done . . , the reproach which has been heaped upon us by 
 foreigners, on account of the inferior and trashy articles which have 
 been sent abroad, and the efforts which they are now making to 
 perfect their own manufactures, will eventually shut us out of the 
 markets of the world." 
 
 What were the specific measm-es devised by the committee of 
 the " Mutual Aid," I am unable to state. The subsequent history 
 of the trade shows that they did not effect the object sought by 
 them. 
 
 In June, 1848, the spring-knife grinders established a Protection 
 Union, designed "to j^rotect each member's labour and working tools, 
 and to provide for the decent interment of the members and their 
 wives." A copy of the rules is before me. Those regulating the 
 conduct of the business and the administration of the funds of 
 the society need not be quoted here. The following are worth 
 extracting; : — 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 561 
 
 " 7. That the town be divided into two divisions, north and south; 
 and each division into three districts; and each district sending 
 {sic) two members to form tlie committee. 
 
 " 10. That each member pay his money weekly to the person 
 appointed by the district where he works ; and he shall pay off, 
 monthly, all arrears and funerals, or for neglecting to do so he shall 
 be written to, and not be allowed to work until the same is dis- 
 charged, without the consent of the district which he belongs 
 to. 
 
 " 18. All apprentices that have attained the age of twenty-one, 
 that have served a legal apprenticeship to the spring-knife grinding 
 business, shall be permitted to enter this society, and receive aU the 
 advantages in four weeks after the entrance money is paid. 
 
 "21. The master of any boy, dying, who has been a member of 
 this society up to the time of his death, leaving a wife or family, 
 they shall have the preference of the boy to any other person until 
 such boy is of age. 
 
 " 22. That this society deprecate all methods of compulsion to get 
 men to join this Union; but the conunittee hope the advantages 
 arising from the Union [are sufficient to induce all the trade to 
 join. 
 
 " 25. That each district have a committee of its own, to examine 
 into cases of dispute that may occur amongst them, and settle the 
 same. They shall have the power to call in the help of the whole 
 district; to collect money; or settle any other business that affects 
 only their own district. N.B. — District fines belong to the district, 
 and general fines go to the box. 
 
 " 26. No journeyman to be allowed to work as such, except they 
 have the consent of the district or its committee. 
 
 " 27. Any man working with another man, or on tools not his 
 own, the person belonging to the tools shall pay, or cause him to 
 pay, while he works with him. 
 
 "28. No person to take in a journeyman from another district, or 
 find him work or tools, without a note from the last district or 
 secretary. 
 
 " 29. Each man in this Union shall have his employer's name 
 entered in the book kept for this purpose; or such employer wanting 
 men to work for him shall have such men only as have already been 
 entered." 
 
 The existence of the following rule seems to point to an evil of 
 frequent occurrence: — 
 
 " 13. Any person coming before the conunittee in a state of in- 
 toxication with any complaint, the same shall not be noticed until he 
 is sober." 
 
 It is further provided that — 
 
 " No religious or political questions [shall be] entertained in meet- 
 ings of the society; but all the members are required to be orderly, 
 peaceable, and pay the strictest attention to business while assembled. 
 That there be no confusion in our meetings, or the spirit of envy 
 
562 An Account of 
 
 entertained against each other ; but to let the spirit of love rule our 
 members." 
 
 Eule 24 states — " That as the life of grinders is more uncertain 
 than most trades, we combine with this union a funeral gift,"* to 
 which only members of the Protection Union were admitted. 
 
 The penknife grinders were unable to retain permanently the 
 unequivocal advantages of this fund, or the more controverted 
 benefits of their Protection Union. 
 
 In 1847-48, following the example of the edge-tool grinders, the 
 Britannia metal smiths, and the file hardeners, they took a piece of 
 land. No balance-sheet was published, but the loss was understood 
 to be considerable.! 
 
 For the last thirty years, I am informed, the table-knife grinders 
 have not been so united as to affect the prices of labour; in 1857, 
 they attempted to re-combine. The annexed address shows that the 
 effort has been protracted up to the present time, and is still being 
 continued; it has hitherto been but imperfectly, if at all, success- 
 ful :— 
 
 " To the Spring-Knife Cutlers. 
 
 " Fellow-workmen, — The committee, along with yourselves, have 
 long felt the necessity of some tangible proposition being brought 
 forward by which the trade might recover from the hopeless depres- 
 sion to which it has long been reduced. Various suggestions and 
 efforts have from time to time been put forth, but with little effect; 
 and, indeed, you are aware that not much can be accomplished by 
 the smaD. contribution which has hitherto been levied; yet we make 
 bold to assert that if every man in the trade had contributed, aU the 
 objects you seek to accomplish would now have been attained; never- 
 theless, as there are many minds and various and conflicting interests 
 to encounter, the committee have determined, with your concurrence, 
 to advance the contribution to 3d. per week, and, with the sum so 
 collected, to submit the following propositions as a basis for future 
 operations: — 
 
 " I. An allowance, per scale, to unemployed members. 
 
 * In Dr. Holland's pamphlet, before referred to, the result of elaborate statis- 
 tical tables, is thus condensed : — 
 
 " 160 out of 1000 deaths, above 20 years of age, die in the kingdom between 
 20 and 29; in Sheffield, 184; but in this branch [the penknife grinders], 402. 
 In the next period, between 30 and 39, in the kingdom at large, the deaths are 
 136 ; in this town, 164 ; but in this branch, 329. The deaths under 50 years of 
 age in the kingdom are 422 ; and among the pen-blade grinders, 640. ... At 
 this period, little beyond the prime of life, when there are in this branch only 60 
 individuals remaining out of 1000, in the kingdom there are left out of the 
 same number, 578," p. 13. 
 
 t " I think," says Mr. Wilson, " we have no trades occupying lands now, a 
 conclusive proof that the experiment failed. After the colliers' strike of 1844 (?) 
 a people's colliery was established under the auspices of the trades' unions. My 
 own trade, the penknife grinders, subscribed for six shares, and after they were 
 paid up, I had them offered to me for nothing." 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 563 
 
 " 2. An early application for a small advance, to be followed after- 
 wards by others. 
 
 " 3. A funeral gift of £2 in case of death. 
 
 " With regard to the scale of allowance, the cases will of necessity 
 be extremely limited, as you will readily perceive not much can be 
 allowed from a contribution so low as Zd. ; still, a beginning will be 
 made, as it is very desirable to be made known: — First, to the work- 
 man, that where advantages are sought by the master at his expense, 
 he has a resource to fly to in case of necessity; and, secondly, to the 
 master, that he cannot trample upon the rights of the workman with 
 impunity. This brings us to a second proposition — an early appli- 
 cation for a small advance. 
 
 " The committee deem it necessary that before any steps are taken 
 in this direction, at least 500 names should be taken, ready and wil- 
 ling to support the committee in their measures, a nucleus would 
 thus be formed by which the rest of the trade would be drawn 
 together; when an intimation given for an advance would be received 
 with the assurance that a request made from a united body cannot 
 be trifled with, and would therefore be conceded at once. As past 
 experience has shown that it is not by any great or sudden changes 
 that you can be permanently beneflted, it is intended to advance by 
 gradual steps, and to insure the permanence of every advance as 
 often as it is conceded. By these means, with a small outlay per 
 week, the trade would be raised to a standard of respectability equal 
 to the best in Sheffield. 
 
 " Of the third proposition, not many words need be said. Its 
 utility will be acknowledged by all, and though not a large sum in 
 itself, will help to mitigate the privations of those whom death has 
 deprived of a parent or friend. 
 
 " FeUow- workmen, — The committee have indicated the path they 
 intend to pursue, and, reserving the details, leave the matter for you 
 to ponder over carefully; feeling confident that whether you support 
 them or not, they have been actuated with the best wishes to pro- 
 mote the welfare and prosperity of the trade at large. 
 
 " Yours, on behalf of the committee, 
 
 " A. B., President. 
 "C. D., Secretary:- 
 
 The flourishing condition and high wages of the operatives engaged 
 in the file trade, and the distress and privation which, when they do not 
 actually afflict, seem always to impend over, the artisans engaged ia 
 the penknife manufacture, suggest consideration. The cause of the- 
 difierence is not to be sought in the fact that the one branch has 
 successfully maintained, and the other has failed to establish a strong, 
 and lasting union. If this were the root of the matter, no doubt the 
 penknife cutlers would soon remedy their condition, by uniting. The 
 power efiectively to combine is not only a means, but a sign oF 
 strength. This power, as we have seen, the penknife cutlers have 
 not. The goods which they manufacture being articles of every-- 
 
 o o 
 
564 An Account of 
 
 day and almost universal use, must be sold cheaply, in order to be 
 accessible to a certain class of jjurchasers, and that the largest. 
 The slender cost of tools and materials requisite for their manu- 
 facture renders this cheapness easily practicable. Little labour and 
 less care, however, can be devoted to them. Hence there arises with 
 inferior goods, a large class of inferior workmen, who, compared with 
 those engaged in the higher branches of the same and other trades, 
 may be described as almost unskilled. The facility with which these 
 men can set up as small masters renders restriction in the number of 
 apprentices and journeymen useless. 
 
 In the higher department of the trade, as I am informed, degrees 
 of skill vary so much that it is absolutely impossible to establish any 
 system of uniform prices. The master only can judge, after con- 
 siderable observation, the minute shades of difiference which render 
 the work evenof good workmen of very unequal value, and apportion his 
 payments accordingly. Hence it follows that while the most skilled 
 artisans in this trade can command an adequate price, and while 
 persons that require good workmanship must, of necessity, pay well 
 for it, the great bulk of the operatives, whose protection is specially 
 and professedly the object of trade societies, are very differently 
 situated. The instances which have been cited to me of voluntary 
 advances in this and other trades, when not in union, all refer to 
 particular houses, which do not manufacture any but valuable goods, 
 and employ only skilful hands. They have, therefore, no general 
 applicability. — So far as a union, such as that of the file trade, 
 succeeds in securing a high rate of wages for its members, so far it 
 achieves a useful end. It should be remembered, however, that the 
 undue limitation of its members forces labour, which would other- 
 wise be attracted to it, into other and already over-stoeked depart- 
 ments, and thus perhaps creates among the working classes, taken as 
 awhole, more distress than it prevents in its ownranks. This considera- 
 tion, which does not raise the much controverted points in dispute 
 between employers and workmen, but kee^ss the question strictly 
 a working man's question, deserves, perhaps, to be more thoughtfully 
 weighed by members of stringently limited trades than it has yet 
 been. The miserable condition of the penknife cutlers, and the 
 unjiaraUeled prosperity of the filesmiths, are, to some extent, corre- 
 lative. They are like the two arms of an unequally weighted balance ; 
 as the one rises the other sinks. 
 
 I now proceed to state such facts as I have been able to gather 
 together respecting the jDresent condition of trades' societies in 
 Shef&eld. The following list enumerates the trades which, in 
 February, 1859, were, and those which were not in union, and 
 gives the hours of meeting in some of the former. 
 
 TRADES IN UNION. 
 
 Amalgamated Engineers. — Monday, Feb. 28tli, and fortnightly, 7 o'clock. 
 
 BootMnders. — First Monday in the month, 8 o'clock. 
 
 Bone Scale Cutters. — Every Monday. 
 
 Brick Makers. — Monday, March 7th, and fortnightly. 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 565 
 
 Brush Makers. — Wednesday after second Monday in each month. 
 
 Bricklayers. — Every Monday. 
 
 Cabinet Makers. — Fourth Monday in the month, 8 o'clock. 
 
 Coach Builders. — First Monday in the month. 
 
 Colliers.— Barnsley District ; Sheffield District.— Every Saturday, 8 o'clock. 
 
 Copperplate and Lithographic Printers. 
 
 Cordwainers. — Second Monday in each month. 
 
 Coopers. — Feb. 26th, and every alternate Saturday. 
 
 Cork Cutters. — Every Saturday. 
 
 Edge Tool Grinders. — Every Tuesday. 
 
 Edge Tool Forgers. — Every Monday. 
 
 Edge Tool Hardeners. — Monday, Feb. 28th, and fortnightly. 
 
 Pender Grinders. — Every Tuesda,y, at 7 o'clock. 
 
 Fender Makers. — Tuesday, March 1st, and fortnightly. 
 
 Filesmiths. 
 
 File Grinders. — Every Monday. 
 
 File Hardeners. — Every Saturday. 
 
 Fork Grinders. — Every Tuesday, 7 o'clock. 
 
 German Silver Spoon and Fork Filers. — Every Saturday, 8 o'clock. 
 
 Glass Grinders. — Every Saturday. 
 
 Hoop, Haft, and Scale Pressers.— Every Monday, 8 o'clock. 
 
 Ironmoulders. — Every Saturday. 
 
 Jobbing Saw Grinders. — Every Tuesday. 
 
 Joiners. — Local Lodge.' — Every Monday, 8 o'clock; General Lodge. — Feb. 2lBt, 
 and every alternate Monday, 8 o'clock. 
 
 Letter-press Printers. — General Meetings, the second Monday in January, 
 April, July, and October, 8 o'clock. 
 
 Metal Smiths. — No. 2. — Every "Wednesday, half-past 7. 
 
 Painters. — Every Saturday, 8 o'clock. 
 
 Patent Scythe Makers. — Saturday, March 5th, and fortnightly. 
 
 Railway Spring Makers. — Feb. 28th, and every alternate Monday, 8 o'clock. 
 
 Razor Blade Makers. — Every Tuesday, 8 o'clock. 
 
 Razor Grinders. 
 
 Razor Smiths. 
 
 Saw Makers. — Every Thursday, 8 o'clock. 
 
 Saw Grinders. — General Meetings, Tuesday, March 15th, and every eighth 
 Tuesday, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 Saw Handle Makers. — ^Feb. 15th, 7 o'clock. 
 
 Scissor Grinders. — Every Monday, 7 o'clock. 
 
 Scythe Grinders. — Feb. 28th, and every alternate Monday, 5 o'clock. 
 
 Scythe Makers. — Saturday, March 5th, and fortnightly. 
 
 Sheep Shear Makers. — Every Saturday, 7 o'clock. 
 
 Sickle Makers and Grinders. 
 
 Silversmiths. — Every Monday, half-past 7 o'clock. 
 
 Steam Engine Makers. — Saturday, March 5th, and fortnightly, 8 o'clock. 
 
 Stone Masons. — Every Monday, half-past 7 o'clock. 
 
 Stove-Grate Fitters. 
 
 Table Blade Forgers. — Every Wednesday. 
 
 Table Blade Grinders. — Every Tuesday. 
 
 Table-Knife Hafters. — Every Tuesday. 
 
 Tailors. — Monday, Feb. 21st, and fortnightly. 
 
 Tobacco Cutters. — Saturday after the 25th of each month. 
 
 Typefounders. 
 
 White Metal Smiths. — ^Every Wednesday, half-past 7 o'clock. 
 
 TRADES NOT IN UNION. 
 
 Cabinet Case Makers. 
 Brass Casters. 
 Joiners' Tool Makers. 
 Opticians. 
 Pearl Grinders. 
 
 Pen and Pocket Blade Grinders. 
 
 Penknife Cutlers. 
 
 Silver Stampers. 
 
 Surgical Instrument Makers. 
 
 o o 2 
 
566 
 
 An Account of 
 
 The following trades constitute tlie Association of Organized Trades 
 of Sheffield and the neighbourhood ; the figures prefixed denote the 
 number of members in each trade society. 
 
 200 Britannia Metal Smiths. 
 
 50 British Plate, Spoon, and Foi-l:; 
 Filers. 
 
 11 Copper-plate and Lithographic 
 Printers. 
 
 14 Cork Cutters. 
 190 Edge Tool Grinders. 
 204 File Grinders. 
 
 84 Fork Grinders. 
 100 Joiners' Tool & Brace Bit Makers. 
 100 Letter-press Printers. 
 
 54 Patent Scythe Makers. 
 203 Railway Spring Makers. 
 100 Razor Smiths. 
 
 370 Saw Makers. 
 
 188 Saw Grinders. 
 
 136 Saw-handle Makers. 
 
 56 Scythe Grinders. 
 
 55 Scythe Makers. 
 200 Sickle Forgers. 
 
 70 Sickle Grinders. 
 100 Stone Masons. 
 
 126 Stove-Grate Fitters. 
 600 Table Knife Haftera. 
 600 Table Knife Grinders. 
 
 127 Tailors. 
 
 42 United Carpenters and Joiners. 
 
 The Association of Organized Trades of Sheffield had its origin in 
 a dispute, in 1858, between a master printer and his journeymen, into 
 the details of which, as the trade in question is not distinctively a 
 Sheffield one, it is unnecessary to enter here at greater length than 
 is done in the passage presently to be quoted from the report of this 
 Association, which, after several preliminary meetings of trade 
 delegates, was established in June, 1859. In September of that 
 year seventeen societies, numbering together 3000 members, had 
 affiliated themselves to it. In February, 1860, five other trades had 
 joined, making the number of constituent societies twenty -two, and 
 of members 3,536. Some of the rules and objects of the Associa- 
 tion are mentioned in the following extracts from a report read at 
 a public dinner of the Amalgamated Trades on Shrove Tuesday 
 last : — 
 
 "It may not, perhaps, be here out of place to state that the entrance 
 fee is one penny per member, and the contributions (according to 
 rule) cannot exceed 3d. per year per member ; and the executive is 
 fully determined to use the strictest economy in conducting the affairs 
 of the Association. The chief objects of the Association are : — The 
 establishment and perpetuation of a more intimate connexion between 
 all branches of the operative classes, and giving increased efficiency 
 to the operations of trade societies. In case of a dispute in any 
 trade, either in resistance of an encroachment, or in an effort to ob- 
 tain an advance of wages, the executive are empowered to guarantee 
 the co-operation of the Association to the extent of endorsing, print- 
 ing, and issuing appeals to the trades and the public, and by such 
 other assistance in the way of counsel and advice, or personal dele- 
 gation, as may to the executive be deemed proper and advantageous. 
 The special attention of the trades is directed to the fact that it is 
 the duty of the executive before endorsing any strike, to consider 
 whether a collision cannot be obviated, either by their own mediation, 
 or by such arbitrative body as may be mutually agreed upon by the 
 employer and the employed, then at variance. The executive con- 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 567 
 
 eeive this to be a very important element in the constitution of the 
 Association, and one that must commend itself to the favourable con- 
 sideration of all classes of the community. By this means strikes 
 may not unfrequently be avoided, as bodies of men, strong in their 
 conviction of right, are apt to place too much reliance in the power 
 of that right to overcome all obstacles ; whereas the counsel of im- 
 partial and experienced men of other trades might lead them to a 
 more complete measurement of their position, and the diificulties to 
 be encountered. It will be seen from the foregoing that the Associ- 
 ation does not interfere with the internal management of any trade 
 society ; that it seeks no control over its funds ; that it does not 
 foster or encourage strikes, as is sometimes laid to the charge of 
 similar bodies by those who know little and care less of the workings 
 of executives ; but that it does all in its power to prevent such 
 lamentable collisions as are sometimes witnessed. But iii the event 
 of their exertions to prevent strikes proving unavailing, they are 
 ever ready and willing to render their aid, in obtaining both the 
 moral and pecuniary assistance of the trades for those who may be so 
 unfortunate as to require either one or both. The executive can 
 with confidence refer to several cases in which they have already 
 been of essential service to trades which have been in difficulties. 
 The one which called the Association into existence, ' The Printers' 
 Dispute,' may be mentioned amongst others. Law proceedings for 
 libel had been commenced against several parties before the esta- 
 blishment of the Association, and the actions involved the Printers' 
 Society in liabilities for more than £1000. By personal delegation to 
 the trades, and the proceeds of benefits, the executive were enabled to 
 hand over £182 to the printers towards the liquidation of these ex- 
 penses. They were also instrumental in causing the withdrawal of 
 the action against the president and secretary of the Printers' Society, 
 and have since used their influence to bring about a reconciliation 
 between Mr. H and the printers. Hitherto, however, they re- 
 gret to say, that these efforts have proved unavailing, although several 
 interviews have taken place, with a view to a settlement of the 
 grievances between these parties. A protracted struggle was 
 brought to a satisfactory conclusion with the sickle and hook trade 
 and their employers, chiefly through the moral influence that was 
 brought to bear on the employers by the Association; for immediately 
 the delegates passed a resolution pledging themselves to support the 
 sickle trade (who up to this period had manfully maintained their 
 ground), the employers made overtures for a settlement of the dis- 
 pute. A collision with the hackle-pin grinders of Hathersage, too, 
 was settled through the good offices of a deputation from the execu- 
 tive, which at one time threatened to end in law proceedings against 
 the secretary of the hackle-pin grinders.* Counsel and advice of a 
 
 * Haoklb-pin GEINDEK8 0F Hathersage.— Thls dispute, I am informed by the 
 secretary of the Association, arose through some misunderstandmg between the 
 
568 An Account of 
 
 serviceable nature have also been rendered to an important branch 
 of the Sheffield trade — the railway spring makers ; and the execu- 
 tive have pleasure in stating that, through their advice a collision 
 was averted between the railway spring makers and their employers, 
 and which ended in the men obtaining an advance in their prices. 
 The executive opine that the foregoing cases will be sufficient to 
 show the utility and importance of the Association ; but there is one 
 gigantic struggle, in which they have rendered their aid, to which 
 they cannot, in justice either to the importance of the struggle or to 
 themselves, refrain from referring, the more especially as they are 
 this evening honoured with the presence of several who have borne 
 no unimportant part in the contest. They allude, of course, to the 
 builders' 'lock-out' in London. It is not in their province to enlarge 
 on this memorable struggle — one in which the men of London have 
 rendered themselves conspicuous not only for the peaceful and 
 orderly manner in which they have conducted themselves amidst the 
 most trying difficulties and unexampled privations, but also for their 
 devotion to the great and glorious principles of union. All honour 
 then, to these bright examples of ' nature's noblemen !' and may the 
 operative classes never again hear of such an outrage on our com- 
 mon nature as the ' odious and obnoxious document ' that was placed 
 before the building trades of London, but which happily has now, 
 through the exertions of the working community, been withdrawn; 
 and the men can now return to their labour without being required 
 to sign away their freedom." 
 
 In July, 1860, as I learn from its First Annual Report then pub- 
 lished, the Association consisted of twenty-five trades, and 3,982 
 members. In this report the executive state that, after discussing 
 among themselves at great length, in March, 1860, Mr. Mackinnon's 
 Bill for the' Establishment of Courts of Conciliation for the Adjust- 
 ment of Differences between Masters and Operatives, and taking 
 care to inform themselves of its provisions, they communicated their 
 views to the members for the borough. 
 
 " The Bill," they say, " being only permissive, your executive 
 were anxious that it should be altered so as to make it compulsory 
 on all masters and workmen in any trade in which a majority of such 
 trade might petition for its adoption, believing that to be effective in 
 Sheffield it would be necessary that it should be equally binding on 
 all, when once adopted. Your executive were also desirous that 
 instead of one court for each trade, as jirovided by the Bill, there 
 
 Union and the masters as to the employment of a man of irregular habits. A state- 
 ment was issued by the men before the Trades' Delegates were consulted, which 
 turned out to be unfounded to a certain extent. One of the newspaper proprietors 
 was threatened with an action for inserting it as an advertisement. A deputation 
 from the delegates went over to Hathersage (twelve miles from Sheffield), and 
 after a lengthy interview with the employers, arranged the matter, and so saved 
 further unpleasantness either to the newspaper proprietor or the men. The trade, 
 ceasing to be united, has since quitted the Association. The dispute in the Sickle 
 Trade, and that in the Kailway Spring Trade, are afterwards spoken of. 
 
Trade Combmations m Sheffield. 569 
 
 should be one general court for each town, to be elected in a similar 
 manner as the Town Council or the Highway Boards, believing that 
 a Council of Conciliation thus elected would be much more advan- 
 tageous to the town, inasmuch as its decisions would have greater 
 weight, and, consequently, be more respected. 
 
 " These were the principal alterations suggested, but, unfortu- 
 nately, they were too late to be laid before the Parliamentary Com- 
 mittee, and consequently it was not thought advisable to jeopardise 
 the Bill in passing its third reading before the House of Commons, 
 the executive being desirous of seeing some such bill in operation; 
 therefore, acting on the advice of our indefatigable member, Mr. 
 Hadfleld, it was decided not to take further action in the matter. 
 
 " The Bill has passed the House of Commons, and was read a 
 second time before the House of Lords on the 3rd of July, and 
 referred to a select committee. There is every reason to believe 
 that it will soon become law ; * in which case your executive ear- 
 nestly hope that it may realize all the good anticipated by its pro- 
 moters, and so tend to create a better feeling between employers 
 and employed. Believing the Bill to have this tendency, and being 
 anxious to further, by every possible means, this feeling, your 
 executive strongly urge on all trades — and more especially those 
 comprised in the Association — the advisability of taking steps to 
 form Courts of Conciliation in all cases where practicable, and thus 
 show to their employers, and the public generally, that they are 
 both anxious and willing to submit their differences to a properly 
 constituted and impartial tribunal." 
 
 The executive state further, that they have been in communica- 
 tion with an association similar to their own, which has been 
 established at Newcastle and Gateshead, and with one in the course 
 of formation at Maidstone. 
 
 Since February (the date of the Report is July) six trades had 
 joined themselves to the Association, viz., the Tailors' Protection 
 Society, the Stove-G-rate Fitters of Sheffield and Rotherham, the 
 Joiners' Tool and Brace-Bit Makers, and the British Plate Spoon 
 and Fork Filers. 
 
 The total receipts of the Association are stated at £32 Os. lOld., 
 the expenditure at £39 Is. 8Jdf., leaving a balance due to the trea- 
 surer of £7 Os. lOd. The expenses of the public dinner, in February, 
 seem to have been the cause of this deficit. The details of income 
 and expenditure are recorded in the following statement : — 
 
 * " Note.— Since the Report was adopted by the Delegates, the House of Lords 
 have decided, imfortimately, not to proceed further with the Bill this Session." 
 
570 
 
 An Account of 
 
 Dr. EECEIPTS. 
 
 Tbades' Contkibutions : — £ s. d 
 
 Sickle Grinders 11 8 
 
 Sickle Forgers 1 3 4 
 
 Railway Spring Makers 1 10 9 
 
 Saw Makers 2 18 4 
 
 Saw-Handle Makers ... 12 4 
 
 Patent Scythe Makers... 8 9 
 
 Hackle-Pin Grinders... 3 2 
 
 Copper-plate Printers... 2 
 
 Letter-press Printers .. . 3 16 10 
 
 Saw Grinders 1 10 10 
 
 Table Blade Grinders... 5 
 
 Scythe Grinders 9 5 
 
 File Grinders 1 14 
 
 United Carpenters and 
 
 Joiners 7 10 
 
 Table-KnifeHafters.... 5 
 
 Razor Smiths 16 8 
 
 Britannia Metal Smiths 1 13 4 
 
 ForkGrinders 14 
 
 Edge Tool and Wool 
 
 Shear Grinders 1 11 8 
 
 Common Scythe Forgers 8 11 
 
 Stone Masons 14 
 
 Cork Cutters 2 2 
 
 Stove-Grate Fitters 10 6 
 
 Joiners' Tool and Brace 
 
 Bit Makers 8 4 
 
 Tailors' Protection So- 
 ciety 10 9 
 
 British Plate Filers 4 2 
 
 Cash for Reports of Pub- 
 lic Dinner 1 3 04 
 
 £32 lOJ 
 Balance due to the Treasurer 7 10 
 
 £39 1 
 
 Or. EXPENDITURE. 
 
 Deputations : — £, s. d. £ s. d. 
 Messrs. Bag- 
 shaw, Austin, 
 & Broadhead, 
 various depu- 
 tations to Mr. 
 Harrison, on 
 behalf ofPrint- 
 
 ers 1 16 
 
 Messrs. Bag- 
 shaw & Broad- 
 head, deputa- 
 tion to Rail- 
 way Spring 
 
 Makers 12 
 
 Deputation 
 
 Expenses 9—2 89 
 
 Mr. Broadhead, 
 Balance of Din- 
 ner Expenses. . 10 10 IJ 
 
 Expenses incurred 
 in Testimonial to 
 Mr. Broadhead. 1 14 
 
 Stationeby, 
 Printing, &c. : — 
 
 Messrs. Loxley 
 Brothers, Books 
 and Printing... 2 14 3 
 
 Printing 5000 co- 
 pies of Rules, &c 5 19 
 
 Printing for dinner 3 5 
 
 Mr. HinchlifFe, 
 Printing 3000 
 
 Hand Bills 110 
 
 Mr. Ingrain, 
 
 Distributing do. 6 
 
 Mr. Leader, 
 
 PrintingReports 
 
 of Dinner 2 5 
 
 Stationery, Post- 
 age Stamps, &c. 10 1- 
 
 Secretary's Salary 
 
 Executive expenses 
 (23 Meetings)... 
 
 16 10 4 
 
 3 
 
 4 18 6 
 £39 1 8i 
 
 July lOtfi, 1860 — Examined and found correct. 
 
 7? 17 1 
 
 p' T^' > Auditors. 
 
 I append such information about the Unions of particular trades 
 as seems worth recording : — 
 
 The principal branches of the Table-Knife trade are these — 
 forging, grinding, and hafting. The following remarks refer princi- 
 pally to the table-knife hafters, — including the other branches only 
 so far as they are connected with the former. 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 571 
 
 To remedy or lessen the evils under which, from 1837 to 1842, 
 the operative table hafters laboured, the men, with the sanction, and 
 even at the suggestion of the masters, formed a union. A list of 
 prices was agreed on, with the understanding, that it should be 
 revised when trade mended. In 1844, a new list was presented by 
 the men, to which, after some demur, the masters, who were stiU in 
 union with the artisans, assented. From this time until the year 
 1847, the trade flourished, and the union was strong; there were no 
 strikes, and in spite of some disputes on minor matters, in which the 
 men invariably triumphed, the feeling between them and their em- 
 ployers, was good. The following details, respecting the organiza- 
 tion of the trade then subsisting, are based on information given by 
 one who, at that time, took an active part in the management of its 
 affairs. The town was divided into twelve districts ; each district 
 had its own committee, and committee-rooms, at some public-house. 
 The central committee consisted of twelve delegates, one from each 
 district. It hired a house, where it held its sittings ; and thither any 
 master who required workmen made application for them. Two 
 paid ofiicers were in permanent session, at the quarters of the central 
 committee, and practically wielded its affairs. The whole trade, 
 consisting of about 1,200 men, could be brought together within an 
 hour. Matters of controversy between the men and their employers, 
 referred principally to the payments claimed or offered for work 
 which the list of prices did not sufficiently define. Instead of 
 directing the workmen to refuse the wages alleged to be inadequate, 
 paying them out of the funds of the Union, and placing all the men 
 in the establishment, in which the disagreement had arisen, upon 
 strike, as the former practice had been, another course was now 
 adopted. The man was instructed to receive the wages offered, the 
 amount in dispute was paid by the Union, and debited on account to 
 the master. The account ran on often for months — in a case which 
 was mentioned for eighteen months — and sometimes reached £8 or 
 £9. The Union bided its time, and when the master had a good 
 order, required additional men, or for some other reason became 
 dependent on the society, they refused to accede to his requests, 
 until he had paid his outstanding "bill" to them. During this period, 
 no " outlaw " could obtain work, except by becoming a " little 
 master." Only the sons of table hafters could be taken as appren- 
 tices to the trade. The real rules of the Union were not printed ; 
 nor were any periodical reports published. 
 
 The price list of 1844 remained in force till the close of 1847. 
 Trade then declined. The funds of the Union were so heavily 
 drawn upon, that after paying some thousands of pounds to unem- 
 ployed members, it ceased to exist. The state of things which led 
 to a dissolution of the Society, naturally brought with them a reduc- 
 tion of wages. An unsuccessful attempt to gain an advance was 
 made in 1850. In 1856, a meeting took place between the work- 
 ing table-knife hafters and the master manufacturers, and a new 
 list was agreed upon, "the employers admitting," says a workman. 
 
572 An Account of 
 
 in a letter in. the Sheffield Independent, September 24th, 1859, 
 " that this list was not sufficiently remunerative, and that when 
 cijcumstances were more favourable, the manufacturers would con- 
 sider an improvement. That time," the writer thinks, '^ has now 
 come. No body of men have suffered more, or even as much as the 
 Table-Knife Hafters. It is a well-known fact that our condition has 
 been, and is, a deplorable one. What time can we have for mental 
 culture when it requires us to work from twelve to sixteen hours to 
 obtain a living, and if we rate our wages at the highest possible 
 scale, say from 10*. to 20s. per week, it should be remembered that 
 we have all working materials to find out of this, besides shop rent, 
 which win take from 2s. to 45. per week." Considering the depression 
 of trade, the table-knife manufacturers advised the hafters to forego 
 any attempt at an advance of prices. In consequence a letter 
 appeared in the Sheffield Independent from the committee of 
 the table-knife hafters, stating that while they remembered with 
 gratitude many valuable services rendered them by their employers, 
 yet, that the late proceedings on their part were not calculated 
 to "maintain confidence in them." The committee concluded : "We 
 therefore feel it to be our duty to advise our workmen to look to 
 themselves and their own resources, so as to be enabled to take 
 advantage of any opportunity, when it presents itself, of securing 
 what our employers have acknowledged we need, and what they had 
 given us reason to expect we should have received at the end of this 
 month, but of which we have been disappointed." 
 
 A rejoinder, purporting to be from " A Table-Knife Hafter," 
 appeared in the Independent of November 26. The writer states, 
 " that about a year ago the masters and workmen met together to 
 make arrangements as to what prices should be given for hafting, 
 which was miserably bad at that time, and what should be the 
 principles on which both parties should act for the future. 
 
 " What is called the regulated price, was offered by the masters, 
 and also thankfully accepted by the workmen. It was also distinctly 
 understood that mutual interest should be the basis of their proceed- 
 ings hereafter, and that no advance should take place without the 
 consent of both parties, with a view of putting an end to strikes." 
 The writer complains that this understanding has been departed 
 from by the workmen, their committee having advised an entire dis- 
 solution of the Union with the masters, at the Hall of Science, 
 where a resolution was carried to that effect. 
 
 The two following letters, with which I have been favoured, give 
 both the result, and the masters' and workmen's view, of the con- 
 troversy. The first is from a large Sheffield manufacturer. 
 
 " Sheffield, July 30th, 1860. 
 
 "Dear Sie, — You are probably aware that for some years there 
 has been co-operation between the workmen and a number of the 
 largest manufacturers, to agree together and maintain, if possible, 
 one uniform rate of wages, and to prevent a downfall of prices when 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 573 
 
 trade is slack, aaid to prevent excessive higli prices when trade is 
 good. As a whole there has been much good done by this ; but now 
 and then either hafters, or forgers, or grinders will be independent 
 of the masters, when they think the power is with them, and there 
 is a good demand for labour. In September or October last year 
 the grinders of table blades set the masters at defiance, and against all 
 our remonstrances, would have an advance of 10 per cent., as trade 
 was good. The masters submitted. Previous to this there had 
 been an understanding, although no actual agreement, that when the 
 table-knife trade could stand an advance, the hafters were to have 
 it, as being the worst paid branch. The grinders forestalled this by 
 force, and got the advance. The masters and hafters met two or 
 three times after this, and as trade gradually then got worse they 
 were advised by the masters to postpone their threatened advance. 
 This was not at all liked by many, but the masters would give no 
 advance then ; and hence the letter you refer to in the Independent 
 of November 6, 1859. Trade has since then been very dull, and the 
 grinders would have been much better off had they never obtained 
 the last advance of 10 per cent., as many of them, have never had full 
 employment since. Excuse this hurried explanation. 
 
 " I am, yours truly, 
 
 "K. L." 
 
 To this, the following reply has been made on behalf of the 
 
 table-knife grinders : — 
 
 " Sheffield, August 21st, 1860. 
 
 " Deae Sir, — In reply to yours, I beg to state that your informant 
 is correct, in stating that ' for some years there has been co-opera- 
 tion between masters and workmen,' &c., but notwithstanding this 
 agreement one of the largest employers, at the end of about twelve 
 months, broke through the agreement. 
 
 " The facts are these — In 1857 we entered into an agreement with 
 the principal employers to abide by the list of prices then paid for 
 twelve months, we undertaking not to ask for any advance for that 
 period, let trade be good or bad, and the employers agreeing not to 
 reduce these prices under any circumstances, even after the expira- 
 tion of the twelve months; but notwithstanding this agreement, one 
 of the employers who had been a party to the agreement, and a mem- 
 ber of the masters' committee, at the end of twelve months sent us 
 word that unless we would submit to a reduction of 25 per cent. 
 he should turn all his men out (about 30). In consequence of this 
 unexpected, and, as we think, unaccountable step we were compelled 
 to close the box (that is, to cease paying the men who had been thus 
 sacrificed). From this time prices gradually went down, the firm 
 named actually compelling the men to submit to a reduction of at 
 least 40 per cent., never giving any work out at the rate of 25 per 
 cent, reduction ; but the box being closed, the men were obliged to 
 submit to a still further reduction, which amounted to from 40 to 50 
 per cent, off the price agreed upon. 
 
574 An Account of 
 
 "Prices generally came down throughout the town in consequence 
 to fully 50 per cent., which state of things continued till October, 
 1858, when trade being good we sought to have a portion of this dis- 
 count reduced ; but still the employer refused, and we were compelled 
 to strike, and we thus succeeded in our object, and got up to a 20 
 per cent, off the original statement, which we asked for, but the 
 employers refused to give. 
 
 " From this time till October, 1859, we were paid at this 20 per 
 cent, off the old list, when we asked them to come to the original 
 statement, and to take off this 20 per cent., which they refused to 
 do ; but not wishing to act arbitrarily towards the employers we gave 
 them a month's notice that we should require to be paid at the 
 original statement (with some slight alterations, which their secretary 
 acknowledged reasonable). We had several interviews with them, 
 and the result was that we agreed to their proposition to take 10 per 
 cent, off the foreign trade, and to have full list price for the country 
 trade ; but notwithstanding this agreement they did not give out any 
 work, and the result was that we paid to our unemployed the first 
 week more than £170. The employers seeing we were united, and 
 prepared to stand out, after two or three weeks gave way, and agreed 
 to the terms proposed. 
 
 " Thus you will see the masters took every advantage of our 
 position, but we did not obtain, and we have never asked for any 
 advance on the statement of 1853 ; and therefore you will also see 
 that the statement of your informant, that we took advantage of the 
 hafters, is untrue, as we have only obtained the old list price, which 
 we should not have been able to do had we not been better united 
 than they were. 
 
 " In conclusion, I may state that the names of the employers in 
 question are withheld, but they can be given if the statements are 
 doubted; and I shall be glad to furnish any further information or 
 explanation in my power. 
 
 " I am, dear Sir, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " M. N." 
 
 The Railway Spring Makers of Sheffield are in union, and in con- 
 nexion with the Association of Organized Trades. The secretary, who 
 has very courteously and satisfactorily answered the inquiries of the 
 Committee, states that their society includes all railway spring makers 
 in Sheffield, four men only excepted, whom the Union will not receive, 
 though it allows them to work without interference. The society was 
 established September 27th, 1857. Two societies previously founded, 
 "got broken up" through mismanagement ; " men threw off the yoke 
 of government — all wanted to be masters ; leading characters were 
 treated contemptuously, and, therefore, no respectable, intelligent 
 man would take any active part in the affairs of the Union." 
 
 The earnings of workmen in the trade are said to range between 
 20s. and 45s. a week (full time), according to the branches in which 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 575 
 
 they are employed, and the varying skill of the artisan. A " vice- 
 man " will earn from 20«. to 35s. weekly ; a filer from 2.0s. to 45«. 
 
 Extracts from the rules of this society are given in the Report on 
 Trades' Societies' Eules. 
 
 The average hours of work in the trade, which is said to be very 
 laborious, are nine hours a day. Equality of wages is not insisted 
 on. If one man has greater abilities than another (the Union knows 
 the abilities of every man in the trade), and his employer pays him 
 according to his abilities and the amount of work he is competent to 
 do, the Union is satisfied ; but working below a certain minimum ap- 
 pears to be prohibited. There is no benefit club in connexion with the 
 society, which has members in some other places than Shefiield, prin- 
 cipally at railway stations. With very few exceptions, workmen are 
 paid by the piece. The society has one ofiicer, who devotes himself 
 entirely to the management of its affairs, at a salary of £1 a week. 
 
 During the last ten years, three strikes have occurred in the trade, 
 all of them, according to the seci'etary's statement, to resist the 
 encroachments of employers. The first took place in 1851, and lasted 
 seventeen weeks. In a handbill, dated Feb. 18th, 1851, and headed 
 " The Appeal of the Railway Spring Makers to the Inhabitants of 
 Shefiield, and the Public generally," the grounds of the strike are 
 thus, in substance, stated : — 
 
 In 1846, the price of railway spring and vicing was reduced from 
 5*. to 3s. Qd. per hundredweight. In 1851, two employers attempted 
 a further reduction, which, according to the estimate of the men, 
 would take about 30 or 40 per cent, from the wages they were then 
 receiving. A strike against these employers took place. They are 
 charged in the handbill with having recourse to "every dodge, no 
 matter how mean and artful, to procure the downfall of the artisan, 
 even to the employing of workmen at the very price for which the 
 Shefiield spring makers were contending." The trade was dis- 
 organized, having few members and small funds, and was obliged to 
 appeal to other societies for aid. Most of the masters were willing 
 to give the men the prices which they strove to uphold. I am not 
 informed of the result. Of the second of the three strikes referred 
 to, I have no information. The third occurred in January of the 
 present year. It is thus related : — 
 
 On the 14th of March, 1859, a meeting of railway spring makers 
 was held, at which an advance was resolved on, and a circular to 
 this efiect was printed and sent to each of the manufacturers. It 
 contained the details of a new scale of prices to take effect on and 
 after the first day of July. A deputation of workmen visited the 
 employers, who promised that if the men would wait a little, the 
 masters would give an advance, as soon as trade improved. The 
 workmen, on this undertaking consented to waive the matter for a time. 
 It remained in abeyance until November following. In that month, 
 at a public dinner to one of the largest firms in the town, the head of 
 the firm (as reported in the Sheffield Telegraph, November 7th) 
 " took occasion to refer to an application that had been made a short 
 
576 An Account of 
 
 time ago by the men employed in the spring department for an 
 advance of wages. At that time the business in that department 
 was not in so flourishing a condition as to enable them to comply 
 with the request, but he was glad to say that it had since improved. 
 The request for an advance of wages had been made in a manly and 
 proper manner. No undue influence was attempted to be exercised, 
 moral influence alone being employed, and they would find that that 
 was by far the most sensible and successful course to adopt. He was 
 glad to be able to say that they had come to the unanimous conclu- 
 sion, that if the business continued to be as brisk as it was at the 
 present time, the advance that was asked for would be granted on 
 the 1st of January next." According to the statement of the men, 
 trade continued to be good, but when the 1st of January came, the 
 masters (with only one exception) refused the promised advance on 
 the ground that they had not had sufficient notice ; and asked the 
 men to wait yet longer. The men, imagining that they were being 
 played with, refused to do so, and turned out. On the second day, 
 however, after the withdrawal, a conference was held between both 
 parties to the dispute. The men agreed to accept half of what they 
 had demanded, and the matter was settled. The present relations 
 between employers and employed are described as being perfectly 
 cordial and friendly. 
 
 The Scissors Trade is in union, but is not in connexion with the 
 Association of Organized Trades. 
 
 Answers to the questions of the Committee have been received 
 from a scissors manufacturer, employing thirty-eight men and 
 apprentices, and thirty women. He states the wages paid by him as 
 follows (they are paid by piecework): — Forgers earn from 18s. to 
 30s. per week; filers 20s. to 35s.; finishers 22s. to 40s.; grinders 24s. 
 to 40s. The above are men's wages. Women as dressers earn from 
 7s. to lis. per week. AU are paid by the piece or dozen. The 
 average wages given to scissor makers, in the town, are said to be 
 10 per cent, less than those in the above list; often, owing to the 
 men having only partial employment, as much as 25 per cent. less. 
 
 For fourteen or fifteen years the union in the scissors trade has 
 been feeble, and virtually non-existent. The ti-ade has been as 
 prosperous without a union as it was when it had one. The 
 employer to whom I owe this information has employed only non- 
 unionist workmen since 1844. The difference which led him to 
 this step is briefly stated by him in the following terms: — 
 
 " The Union not only regulated the price of labour, but insisted 
 that in case of a strike, on resuming work, every man must have 
 his old place and quality of work. We offered, in 1844, our men an 
 advance of 5 per cent., on condition that they ceased to belong to 
 the Union, thus gaining at least 10 per cent, to the men, in not 
 paying to the general fund. They refused, and after five weeks' 
 notice we closed our manufactory until we could resume work with 
 non-unionist men. We reinained closed for eight or nine weeks, 
 when we were able to work partially, but were not quite complete in 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 57" 
 
 numbers under twelve weeks. As the men had no connexion with 
 the Union it cost from £60 to £80 in employing watchmen to protect 
 our men's tools from damage at night time. Unless this had been 
 done no workman would have remained faithftil to us from fear for 
 their tools, some workmen having tools from £10 to £25 in value." 
 The employer considors non-unionist workmen to be quite equal in 
 character and skill to society-men. During the brisk trade anterior 
 to 1854, he had to raise wages 20 per cent. It is evident from the 
 higher rate of wages paid by this gentleman, that the workmen in 
 his establishment are of a better class than the average of those in 
 the same branch. The workmen, therefore, i^robably, being able to 
 rely upon their superior skill, do not need the aid which unions 
 profess to afford to the ordinary and unskilled artisan. 
 
 A joint set of answers to the questions of the Committee has 
 been forwarded from the Sickle Forgers' and Grinders' Societies 
 of Sheffield. These societies are in connexion with the Association 
 of Organized Trades. By the custom of the trades, the hours of 
 labour are limited to twelve a day. Workmen are obliged to work 
 art the list prices. Nothing is done to prevent non-unionists from 
 working with unionistsj " on their (the non-unionists) becoming 
 united with society men." Seven years is the usual term of ap- 
 prenticeship, "subject to a discount of a penny in the shilling, up to 
 the age of nineteen." On one occasion, and only on one, employers 
 voluntarily gave an advance. There is a Sick and Funeral Fund in 
 connexion with the Society. 
 
 During the last ten years there has been only one strike in this 
 trade. It took place in 1858, and is stated to have been for the re- 
 covery of an agreement made with the masters in 1848. The men 
 claimed ten per cent, advance, but would have accepted five per cent. 
 The masters refused this compromise, and the strike went on. 
 After a struggle of five months, it ended in favour of the men. The 
 aid of the Association of Organized Trades, or rather of the Trades' 
 Delegates, the Association being then only in process of formation, 
 was afforded in the contest, and helped to bring it to a close. On 
 application of the men, who had at that time been out eighteen 
 weeks, "a resolution," the secretary of the Association writes, "was 
 passed, pledging the delegates to represent their case to their re- 
 spective trades, as one deserving their pecuniary support; the sickle 
 and hook trade having been always well united among themselves, 
 and having suB^ribed liberally to other trades in distress." Inter- 
 views with both the employers and the men were held, and the ad- 
 vance was ultimately granted.- " The resolution passed by the dele- 
 gates," says the secretary, "was published, and this appeared to 
 hasten the settlement, — the employers seeing that the men would 
 obtain support from the Sheffield trades generally." 
 
 In the answers which they have obligingly forwarded to the ques- 
 tions of the Committee, the File Grinders state that they number 283 
 members, and are, as they believe, the only society of file grinders 
 in England. An apprentice is required to serve seven years : he 
 
578 An Account of 
 
 must be under fourteen years of age when lie is bound ; and cannot 
 be admitted into the Society until he is twenty-one years of age ; 
 and then only on condition of his parent or master having paid sub- 
 scription for him during his apprenticeship. No journeyman is 
 allowed to have more than one apprentice ; or to take an apprentice 
 till he is twenty -five years of age ; but when trade is good, and all 
 hands are employed, the rule is sometimes deviated from. No limit 
 is set to the hours during which a file grinder may work, or to the 
 amount he may earn, though the same price is invariably required 
 for work of the same kind. A good hand and steady man will 
 sometimes get £2 a week where an inferior hand will only earn £1. 
 The Society knew of no instance of a general advance of wages in 
 the trade without intervention on its part ; and is convinced that a 
 fair rate of payment could not be obtained apart from the Union. 
 This is shown in the case of persons who have forfeited the support 
 of the Society, by not paying their contributions, and who are 
 working, in some instances, at 10, 15, and 20 per cent, discount 
 off the list of prices. "They are compelled to do it or starve, for 
 they cannot get any support from the parish, if any one will find 
 them employment at any price." If a non-unionist obtain work where 
 members of the Union are working, the Society uses all the influence 
 it has to induce him to join. 
 
 The committee sits every Monday evening at six o'clock, and the 
 secretary calls over the name of each member, the amount paid by 
 each member, and the amount paid to the unemployed during the 
 week. Two members are appointed to audit the accounts of the 
 Society every three months. The Secretary devotes all his time to the 
 management of the Union, for which he receives 30«. a week. There 
 is a "Free Gift" Fund in connexion with the Society from which 
 allowances are made of 4«. weekly to members during sickness, £5 
 for the funeral expenses of members, and £3 for the funerals of 
 their wives, and of the widows of late members. 
 
 Each member subscribes 3d. to the sick fund, and 6d. to the 
 funeral fund ; and after paying all demands and leaving a sum in 
 stock to meet future claims, the residue is divided among the mem- 
 bers at Christmas. 
 
 No allowance is made to a member on tramp, but if he hear of a 
 situation elsewhere, money is given to take him to the place where 
 the vacancy exists. Members leaving the town do not cease to be 
 members, if they continue to pay their subscriptions. 
 
 The Society thinks that if trade societies could be made legal, 
 and their rules could be enforced upon members by law, it would be 
 a great improvement. 
 
 Answers have been received from one or two other trades, but 
 they do not communicate information characteristically different from 
 that which precedes. It has been, therefore, thought undesirable to 
 occupy space by giving account of them. 
 
 It is impossible to conclude this paper without saying a few 
 words on the subject of those trade outrages for which Sheffield has 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 579 
 
 become unhappily notorious. Some instances of them have been 
 given already. The mo«t common and most harmless (though stiU 
 reprehensible) form -which they take, is known in Sheffield as " rat- 
 tening." Rattening consists in disabling the machinery of the 
 obnoxious workman, either by breaking his tools, or cutting the 
 bands which connect the trough at which he works with the steam 
 or water power. More frequently the tools or bands are taken 
 away and hidden, and restored uninjured when the workman has 
 made reparation for the offence which has brought this punishment 
 upon him. Neglect to pay to the funds of the Union is the common 
 provocative of rattening. A man is at first warned, perhaps in a 
 friendly way, that lie had better pay up his arrears, or, as it is 
 called, his " Natty money." If the warning fails of its effect, it 
 gradually assumes something of a threatening character. At length 
 he finds an unsigned scrawl upon his trough, to the effect that, if 
 he still refrains from paying, " Natty shall be sent to make him." 
 Unless he takes this hint, he is likely before very long to discover, 
 on coming to work, his bands cut and his tools gone. 
 
 In other cases the destruction of property and even of life by in- 
 cendiarism and explosion of gunpowder is resorted to. The fol- 
 lowing may serve as a specimen of these outrages. I confine, myself 
 to recent instances, the number of which might be indefinitely in- 
 creased. 
 
 " On the 24th May, 1854," says a recent writer in the Independent, 
 under the signature of " A Sheifielder," " a canister of powder was 
 put down the chimney of Samuel Baxter, of Loxley, saw grinder. 
 June the 5th, the same year, Elijah Parker, of Dore, was shot. 
 He worked for Messrs. Newbould, and did not join the Union. 
 About eight months previously, some vile miscreant hamstrung his 
 horse, and otherwise annoyed him : but Parker now belongs to the 
 trade, no doubt being induced thereto by arguments which I before 
 said were ' not of very persuasive character.' The following note 
 was received by a neighbour of Parker's : — 
 
 '" Sheffield, May 25th, 1854.— Samuel Lawe Be aweire of Wat 
 Boune to occur, if you don't get shut of Bishop and the other lads 
 very soon, the trade will send you some ling, look aft your cart, and 
 horse, and shop. Elijah and you are qualified to ruin all trads in 
 Shefl. — To Mr. Samuel Lawe, saw handle maker, Dore.' 
 
 "On June 5th, 1854, a bottle of gunpowder was put under one of 
 the boilers at Messrs. T. Firth and Sons, and the following post 
 brought to Mr. Mark Frith this polite epistle : — 
 
 '"June 6th, 1854. — Mr. Mark Firth i have to inform you that 
 unless you get shut of those knobstick grinders from your weel that 
 we shall be oblige to try some Remedy of our own. For we nowe the 
 way into the weel and likewise to the Boiler and allso the warehouse 
 and allso yourn own Residence, and if you think anything about, 
 yourself or your property you will imedetely turn them away, 
 or you must expect what will follow. — We Remain your Well 
 Wisher.' 
 
 p p 
 
580 An Account of 
 
 " Samuel Baxter, before named, was one of the knobsticks working 
 at Messrs. Firth's." 
 
 " Another Trade Outrage at Sheffield. — Yesterday morning 
 another trade outrage was committed at Sheffield, against a man 
 named John Trickett, a small table-knife manufacturer, who works 
 on the premises of Mr. Shortcliffe, Central Works, Bailey Lane. It 
 appears that eai'ly in the morning some persons broke into the room 
 in which Trickett works, and, having obtained all the ' glazers,' 
 bands, &c., on which they could lay their hands, piled them on p, 
 heap of forks which were laid on the floor, and then set fire to them. 
 Trickett soijie time ago summoned a fork grinder in his employ for 
 leaving work without notice ; and it seems probable that this may be 
 the cause of the outrage." — Guardiati, Sept. 10th, 1859. 
 
 " Another Outrage at the Tower Grinding Wheel, Shef- 
 field. — On Tuesday morning a serious outrage was committed at 
 the Tower grinding wheel. It appears that there are a number 
 of men employed at the Tower wheel who are not members of the 
 trades' union. On Monday thirty or forty members of the Union 
 walked about the place, but nothing wrong occurred till Tuesday 
 morning. A saw grinder, named Joseph Helewell, who works for 
 Mr. Wilson, saw manufacturer, went to his work at the wheel about 
 seven o'clock, and worked on his grinding stone till nine o'clock. At 
 that time he went to work at his glazing trough, and when he had 
 been at work there about two minutes an explosion of gunpowder 
 took place, which caused some serious mischief. The gunpowder 
 had been placed in the trough, and the sparks from the glazer having 
 ignited it caused the explosion. Helewell was seriously injured about 
 . the eyes, nose, and arms, and his trousers were set on fire by the 
 explosion. We understand that Helewell has only worked in that 
 room for about a week, and that on going there he went to the 
 secretary of the Union and ofltered to join, but was told that he 
 would not be allowed to do so without certain other persons indi- 
 cated also joined. The outrage is supposed to have been committed 
 by some person connected with the Union, but as yet the perpetrator 
 is at large." — Sheffield Telegraph, Oct. 20th, 1859. 
 
 " Another Trade Outrage at Sheffield. — Attempt to blow 
 UP A House. — About six o'clock yesterday morning, Mr. Joseph 
 Wilson, saw manufacturer, who occupies a house adjoining his works, 
 at the corner of Milton and Headford Streets, Sheffield, was aroused 
 by the noise of a violent explosion, which shook the house. Mr. Wil- 
 son instantly proceeded down-stairs, but found such an accumulation 
 of rubbish and smoke in the passage that he was unable at first to get 
 into the ' living ' room. After some little delay he succeeded in 
 getting into the room, when he found the fioor blown up. In the 
 cellar he found that a tin vessel, which had evidently contained com- 
 bustibles, had been let in under the living room, and there exploded. 
 A serious amount of damage has been done by the explosion. In 
 the cellar there is little mischief done beyond . the tearing off of a 
 large quantity of plaster, &c. The explosive current passed in great 
 
Trade Combination* in Sheffield. 581 
 
 violence up the cellar-stairs, blowing down the shelves of crockery, 
 &c., at the cellar head, and tearing down the partition, partly of wood 
 and partly of brick — ^which separated the passage leading from the 
 kitchen to the cellar from the front passage between the rooms. The 
 hearthstone and boarded floor of the " living " room, which is over 
 that part of the cellar, where the explosion occurred, were torn up 
 almost the entire breadth of the room. The marble mantel-piece was 
 broken in twain, and all the ornaments standing upon it were smashed 
 to atoms. Singularly enough, the chimney glass was not in the least 
 injured. A square table, left standing in the centre of the room, had 
 evidently been tossed up against the chandelier, one of the glasses 
 of which it had broken, and, falling heavily upon the floor, was broken 
 into several pieces. In the sitting-room, damage of a similar cha- 
 racter was done. The furniture in both rooms was in the utmost 
 disorder, having evidently been tossed about in all directions, and 
 everything was literally coated with dust, but the damage to the fur- 
 niture is not extensive. The fan-light over the front door was com- 
 pletely blown out. In the bedroom, which is immediately over the 
 "living" room, and was occupied by two children, no damage was 
 done except to the plaster and moulding. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson slept 
 over the sitting-room, the door of their bedroom being fastened with 
 a chain bolt. This bolt was snapped off the staple by the violence 
 of the explosive current against the door, and was thrown across the 
 room on a table. The outer walls of the house nearest to which the 
 explosion occurred are, however, damaged to a serious extent. In 
 addition to several minor dislocations, a crevice from one to two 
 inches in breadth has been made in the gable wall of the " living " 
 room, apparently extending from the ground almost to the roof. 
 
 " Happily, the whole of the inmates, six in number, have escaped 
 without the slightest injury. 
 
 "In explanation of the motive of this abominable outrage, the 
 following circumstances are stated : — Mr. Wilson has for a period of 
 fourteen years steadily refused to employ union men. For two or 
 three years Mr. Wilson has had in his employ two saw grinders, 
 who had been apprentices with James Linley, whose life had been 
 several times attempted, and who was shot in the head some months 
 ago. Mr. Wilson states that one of the men, while in his employ, 
 endeavoured to persuade him to employ union men, remarking, ' If 
 you don't, they will happen be shooting you.' Mr. Wilson replied 
 that he was not afraid of that ; for though he employed non-union 
 men, he did not employ a large number of apprentices, like another 
 man, whose name he mentioned. The reply was, ' He will be popped 
 off this winter you'll see.' On losing three men, who joined the 
 Union, Mr. Wilson set on a grinder, named Helliwell, who, it will be 
 recollected, was seriously injured by an explosion of gunpowder, 
 placed under his glazing stone, at the Tower Wheel, about seventeen 
 days ago. About the time he set on HeUiwell, a little more than 
 three weeks ago, Mr. Wilson received a post letter, of which the 
 following is a copy :— 
 
 pp2 
 
582 An Account of 
 
 ' TO MR. JOSEPH WILSON. 
 
 ' Dear Sir, — I take this opertunity of Just remining you that 
 you are trlyeing on a Daugerious game you are taking the place of 
 another person Whose name it do not neede to . mention by running 
 a Bout to Decoy Boys to grind for you — it will save your Life if 
 you do not succeed as it would cause you to Become the next game 
 and In that case it is 50 to 1 upon your days beieng numbered you 
 may treet this Litley and toss it into the fire if you will But so sure 
 are you a doomed man and Bear in mind I have eithertoo allways don 
 all that I have promiest in this way to the fuUist measure. 
 
 ' Signed tantia Tope.' 
 
 " The man referred to in this letter is supposed to be Linley, who 
 joined the Union during the last month, and is now 'on the box,' 
 i.e., in receipt of pay from the Union funds. The outrage upon 
 Helliwell was committed about a week after the receipt of this letter 
 by Mr. Wilson, and now the threat has been carried out in regard to 
 Mr. Wilson himself. 
 
 " The perpetrators of the outrage appear to have escaped observa- 
 tion." — Manchester Guardian, Nov. 5. 
 
 " About half-past four o'clock yesterday morning, the inhabitants 
 of Eckington were awoke by a tremendous explosion, shaking the 
 whole of the village. Upon inquiring the cause, it was found that 
 the warehouse of Mr. Mark Keeton, scythe, sickle, and hook manu- 
 facturer, had been destroyed by gunpowder; the whole of the place 
 being a ruin. The only reason, if a reason it can be called, for the 
 outrage is, that since the strike Mr. Keeton's men have not worked; 
 he having promised them that he would inform them after his Irish 
 journey (in which he is now engaged) whether he could give an 
 advance or not; but it seems that they had not waited his return." 
 
 In January of the present year, an attempt was made to blow up 
 the works of Messrs. Wheatman and Smith, saw manufacturers, who 
 had introduced new machinery for grinding straight saws, which had 
 hitherto been ground by hand. Rewards were offered for the 
 detection of the offender, both by the injured manufacturers and 
 the Government, but it was found expedient to withdraw the 
 rewards. On the 30th of January, the following note was received 
 by the mayor, from Messrs. Wheatman and Smith's solicitor : — 
 
 " Messrs. Wheatman and Smith have been so much alarmed by 
 threatening letters sent to their wives, that they have determined not 
 to proceed any futher in the matter. They have consulted with the 
 secretary of the Saw Grinders' Union, and have determined to 
 abandon their imjsroved machinery. I regret this, as it will be a 
 complete victory and encouragement to the lawless; but their deter- 
 mination seems to be inflexible. The safety of their families from 
 personal violenbe is the consideration which alone has weighed 
 with them. This is an awful state of things, and I really think 
 Government should know of it. 
 
 After the receipt of this letter, the matter was prosecuted no 
 further. 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 583 
 
 The degree in which some of the trades' societies of Sheffield are 
 involved in, or responsible for, these outrages, cannot be precisely 
 ascertained. They are too numerous, and directed too systemati- 
 cally against men whose only oiFences are oiFences against Union 
 regulations, to allow us to suppose that societies do not, in many 
 cases, either instigate or connive at them. The 'mere fact that it is 
 impossible, in the great majority of instances, to trace the authors 
 of such crime, shows that they are efficiently protected and screened. 
 The presumption against the Unions has never been rebutted. 
 At the same time, no doubt, many members and leaders of trades' 
 societies thoroughly disapprove of these acts, which are the deeds of 
 a criminal minority only. 
 
 The mode in which ruffians are hired for their work, was de- 
 scribed to me, on good authority, to be the following. Nothing is 
 said directly to them, but sufficiently intelligible hints are dropped, 
 and a sum of money is placed in a drawer at one of the lodge-houses 
 of the society. If the money is considered insufficient, it is put 
 back again, and the amount is increased until it meets the demands 
 of the person undertaking the business of which it is to be the pay- 
 ment. The outrages in one trade were said generally to be com- 
 mitted by men who are not members of that trade ; sometimes by 
 those who do not work at any calling, but have made rattening and 
 trade outrages almost a profession. 
 
 In other cases, the method of deciding who shall ratten a man or 
 blow up a factory, is by lot. Only he who draws the lot (and in 
 some cases the President) knows on whom it has fallen. An in- 
 scription on the paper informs the holder of it where he will find 
 the money to be given him when the task is done. Thus all the 
 members of the trade can swear to their total ignorance of the per- 
 petrator of an outrage, who has been selected in the way described. 
 
 I think it right to append, without abbreviation, the following 
 paper, which probably expresses the views of the majority of intel- 
 ligent and respectable employers of labour in Sheffield. 
 
 " At a meeting of the Sub-Committee of the Sheffield Chamber of 
 Commerce and Manufactures, held July, 1860, for the purpose of 
 considering certain questions submitted by the National Association 
 for the Promotion of Social Science, relating to Trades' Unions, it 
 was resolved that the following general answers be sent to the 
 secretary of the National Association for the Promotion of Social 
 Science : — 
 
 " 1st. The workmen in the Sheffield trades are generally paid by 
 the piece. 
 
 " 2nd. Unions exist in almost all the Sheffield trades, for the 
 purpose (among others) chiefly of adjusting or controlling the rate 
 of wages, and limiting the number of workmen and apprentices. 
 
 " 3rd. As a general thing, the majority of the men in any trade 
 which has a union, belongs to the union, and pays to its funds, but 
 only a small minority originates and maintains strikes. 
 
 " 4th. The majority of the men who belong and pay to unions, do- 
 
584 _^n Account of 
 
 so partly because they look upon the Union as a power which in 
 case of need can materially assist in preventing any sudden or exces- 
 sive fall in wages, partly under compulsion exercised by threats and 
 intimidation, and to avoid annoyance from their fellow-workmen, 
 and partly for the sake of assistance in money, which the Union 
 aflTords to men out of employment. 
 
 "5th. The men who manage the unions are, perhaps, on the whole, 
 taken from the most intelligent class in their particular trade, but it 
 is not a rule that they can be classed also among the most skilled, 
 industrious, or high wage earning of their fellow-workmen. They 
 are generally only medium or indifferent ^ workmen, but men with 
 some education and natural ajstitude for organizing and carrying out 
 the combined efforts of others. 
 
 " 6th. As a rule, the men who do not belong to the unions are the 
 least skilful and industrious of their class ; there are many exceptions. 
 Steady, industrious, quiet men, who wish to earn an honest living, 
 day after day, without interference, belong to their unions for the 
 sake of peace and quietness. 
 
 " 7th. There can be no doubt, that great and sometimes insur- 
 mountable difficulty exists in introducing machinery or new processes 
 into any trade where a union exists. 
 
 " 8th. It is unusual for any personal difficulty to be thrown in the 
 way, either of any particular man working for any particular master, 
 or the reverse, by the Union. It is sometimes done, but usually, 
 their measures apply generally. 
 
 " 9th. It is possible and usual in some trades to arrange with very 
 superior workmen about remuneration without regard to trade lists, 
 and the Union either knows nothing about it, or does not interfere.* 
 
 " 10th. There can be no doubt that the practice of organizing, 
 public speaking, and action does educate in the men who practise it 
 a taste for, and power to, take part in public business generally. 
 
 " 11th. The employers of labour in Sheffield have no combinations 
 among themselves now, nor have they had any for very many years. 
 Such combinations occasionally occur when an attempt is made to 
 disturb existing prices and arrangements. 
 
 " 12th. The apprenticeship system is usual in all the Sheffield 
 trades which have unions, and in all such cases the employer is much 
 interfered with, as to the number he can employ and the work which 
 they may do. 
 
 " 13th. In the opinion of this Chamber the existence of trades' 
 unions among the Sheffield trades has tended to stereotype those 
 trades, and throw great difficulties in the way of any enterprising 
 manufacturer who, either by the introduction of machinery, new 
 processes, varieties of patterns, re-adjustment of prices, &c., wished 
 to make head against intelligent foreign competition ; they have 
 succeeded, just in proportion as the union of any trade was powerful, 
 
 * I am informed that inferior workmen, nominally working at the list price, 
 are in the habit of allowing a discount from it. 
 
Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 585 
 
 in securing for a greater or smaller number of workmen in that trade 
 a rate of wages more or less fictitiously high ; — wherever the success 
 of a union has been most complete, foreign competition has been 
 most successful, and the number of men year after year employed' in 
 that particular trade, though earning higher wages perhaps, smaller 
 and smaller in proportion to the world's consumption of the goods 
 they make ; — and therefore, as institutions whose tendency has been 
 to cripple trade, this Chamber regards them as an evil. It does not 
 see any reason for thinking that any substantial benefit which the 
 Sheffield trades may have obtained under the old system would not 
 have been equally or even more completely secured without the as- 
 sistance of trades' unions. It is possible that there might have been 
 fewer men who would earn outrageously high wages, but a very 
 much larger number could have earned moderate wages continuously, 
 and with the additional satisfactory knowledge that Sheifield was 
 retaining and increasing her trades. Nothing but a steady demand 
 for goods can enable employers to give good wages, and strikes 
 disturb demand, and strikes are created by unions. Competition, 
 either as regards quality, quantity, or despatch, would and will still 
 secure an average rate of wages, as high to any set of workmen as a 
 union professes to be able to obtain, and without any bad feeling 
 between employer and employed. 
 
 " 14th. This Chamber is not able to suggest any remedy for the 
 evils created by trades' unions here. Unless it is much mistaken, 
 the remedy will come to Sheffield in the form of a gradual decline 
 and ultimate extinction of all trades which are controlled by unions, 
 unless in the meanwhile the men see fit to so remodel them as to 
 assist rather than check the operations of their employers who have 
 to seek markets for what the men produce. 
 
 " It may be stated in conclusion, that those trades in Sheffield which 
 have been controlled by unions, have as a general rule made little if 
 any progress, compared with the increased consumption of the goods 
 they produce; while those trades free from the operation of unions 
 have made steady and surprising progress; — and further, that the 
 wages earned in the last class of trades are equal to if not greater 
 than those earned in the first class, by skilled workmen. 
 
 " John Jobson Smith, 
 " President of the Chamber. 
 
 In conclusion, I may remark that it would be obviously improper 
 to draw any comprehensive inferences from facts so partial as those 
 vrhich have been ^tated. The practical working of trades' societies 
 in Shefiield is only part of the much larger subject of the working 
 of such societies generally ; and this again is quite distinct from the 
 general question how far combinations of workmen to regulate wages 
 and' conditions of labour are economically justifiable. All that the 
 most correctly ascertained and carefully collected facts can do is to 
 supply a verification of the deductions of science, if they harmonise 
 with those deductions, and to put inquirers on the trace of a truer 
 
586 An Account of Trade Combinations in Sheffield. 
 
 theory if they are in contradiction to them. The outrages which 
 take place at Sheffield do not supply an argument against properly 
 managed combinations ; mere abstinence from them, as from political 
 agitation, and the incidental benefits conferred on workmen out of 
 employment, when it might just as well be rendered by provident 
 clubs, do not form an argument in favour of combinations to regulate 
 wages and the conditions of labour. What has chiefly to be guarded 
 against on this subject is hasty inference from the experience of 
 particulai' and perhaps peculiarly situated trades and places. 
 
AN ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEGISLATION AFFECTING LABOUR, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE CONDITION OF THE WORKING CLASSES IN FRANCE. 
 
 IN A LETTER 
 
 By M. LOUIS BLANC* 
 
 13, George Street, Poktman Square, July llth, 1860. 
 
 Sir, — In compliance Avith your request, I beg to give you the 
 following details on the points mentioned in your letter of the 21st 
 instant: — 
 
 There is nothing in France which may be aptly likened to 
 "Trades' Unions" as they exist in England.f But if you wish to 
 have an accurate account of the origin, working, and progress of the 
 "Co-operative Associations" to which the revolution of 1848 gave birth, 
 and many of which are, at present, not only existing, but thriving, 
 you will find it in the book I published about two years ago, under 
 the title, " Historical Eevelations." 
 
 You are aware, I suppose, that the establishment of the " Co- 
 operative Associations," initiated by myself, when president of the 
 " Grovernment Labour Commission," had absolutely nothing to do with 
 the most absurd and fatal establishment of those "national work- 
 shops," which were nothing better and nothing else than the regi- 
 mental embodiment of thousands of workmen of difierent trades, 
 aggregated pell-mell, and set upon a kind of labour not less unpro- 
 fitable than ridiculous. The strange and almost inconceivable facility 
 with which public opinion in Europe has been brought to father upon 
 me the " national workshops," in spite of the official documents, and 
 of the very confessions of the real contrivers, all proving beyond 
 possibility of dispute that the " national workshops" were established 
 by my adversaries in the council, notwithstanding my resistance, in 
 direct opposition to my views, and for the express purpose of coun- 
 
 * The following letter, written in answer to inquiries addressed to M. Louis 
 Blanc, is published by permission of the author. The information which it 
 contains will, it is believed, be acceptable to those who are interested in the sub- 
 ject to which the present volume is devoted. The thanks of the Committee are 
 due to M. Louis Blanc for his consent to the publication of his letter. — En. 
 
 t In my book, "Historical Revelations," I used the word "trades' unions" only 
 to express the gathering of all the workmen belonging to the same trade, and 
 because I knew of no other word by which I could translate into English the 
 French word " corporation." 
 
588 Afi Account of the 
 
 terbalancing my influence, is one of the most striking illustrations 
 on record of the power of calumny. Should you entertain any doubt 
 on the subject, you have only to glance at Chapter IX. of the above- 
 mentioned book. The evidence there adduced is decisive. 
 
 As regards what is termed in [France " Compagnonnage,'' I beg 
 to invite your attention to a little book published, some years ago, 
 by M. Agricol Perdiguier. It will give you an insight into that 
 singular institution, which derives its origin from the period anterior 
 to the revolution of 1789. 
 
 It was then a general opinion amongst the operatives, that no 
 workman could be considered to have completed his education, as 
 such, unless he had travelled all over France, whence the name of 
 " Compagnon du tour de France" given to the travelling workman. 
 
 The "Compagnonnage" is still extant, but it does not extend to 
 the whole of the working classes. 
 
 A curious feature of this institution is that, in almost every 
 town, there is a woman elected by those belonging to the fraternity, 
 who is called "la mere" — the mother — and whose business it is to 
 afford shelter, assistance, and protection to the travelling " Compag- 
 non " when he reaches the place of her residence. 
 
 In answer to your inquiry, whether there be a trustworthy state- 
 ment of French legislation as affecting the system of apprenticeship, 
 hours of labour, rates of wages, and combinations of workmen, I am 
 sorry to say that I know of no book in which you can find the informa- 
 tion you want ; but I think it is in my power to indicate to you 
 some of its most important features. 
 
 Prud'hommes. — French legislation affects labour through the 
 Institution of " Prud'hommes." 
 
 The " Conseil des Prud'hommes," which was for the first time 
 instituted at Lyons as early as 1803, is a sort of tribunal established 
 by law for settling, by means of conciliation, any dispute that may 
 arise between the employers and the employed, or, as the case may 
 be, for delivering judgment, as far as these contests are concerned — 
 the judgment being final whenever it refers to a sum of money not 
 exceeding £8, but, if above this sum, being susceptible of revision 
 by the " Tribunal de Commerce." 
 
 The character of the law which regulated the " Institution des 
 Prud'hommes" previously to the revolution of 1848 is strikingly 
 illustrated by the following article of the decree issued on the 11th of 
 June, 1809 : — -" The ' Conseil des Prud'hommes' will be composed of 
 masters and workmen; but in no case will the number of the latter 
 be equal to that of the former." 
 
 In 1848 it was deemed necessary to re-organize and improve the 
 " Institution des Prud'hommes." 
 
 It was, therefore, enacted by law, passed on the 27th of May and 
 9th of June, 1848:— 
 
 That in the " Conseil des Prud'hommes" the two conflicting 
 interests should be represented by an equal number of employers and 
 employed; 
 
Legislation affecting Labour in France. 589 
 
 _ That this number should be neither below six nor above twenty- 
 six, and should in any case be an even number; 
 
 That the " Prud'hommes" belonging to the class of employers 
 should be elected by the employed from a list of candidates presented 
 by the employers; 
 
 That the " Prud'hommes " belonging to the class of the employed 
 should be elected by the employers from a list of candidates pre- 
 sented by the employed; 
 
 That in the event of the votes in the council being equally 
 divided the president should have a casting vote ; 
 
 That the council should be alternately presided- over by an 
 employer elected by the employed, and by an employed elected by the 
 employers. 
 
 The object of these provisions was to operate as a check upon 
 the antagonistic feelings which the opposition of interests is likely to 
 generate; they were intended to bring together as much as possible 
 two classes of men, united at present by no other link than that 
 which exists between buyers and sellers. 
 
 The empire does not seem to have taken the same view of the 
 case; for the provision just mentioned has been thus altered, on the 
 4th of June, 1853: — "The employers shall elect the employer- 
 Prud'hommes separately; and in like manner shall the employed 
 elect the employed-Prud'hommes." 
 
 So, as matters now stand, the masters and the men are two armies 
 drawn up in' battle array, and ready to meet face to face. Organized 
 antagonism seems to have been substituted for organized conciliation. 
 
 In another point of paramount importance has the law of June, 
 1848, been altered by the law of June, 1853. 
 
 The president of the " conseil des Prud'hommes," instead of being 
 alternately elected by the workmen, if a master, and by the masters, 
 if a workman, is now to be appointed by the Emperor; and so are 
 to be the vice-presidents, whilst on the prefect, in each department, 
 is conferred the privilege of appointing and the power of dismissing 
 the secretaries, upon the president's proposal. 
 
 I need not observe that the object of these new provisions is to 
 make' the relations between employers and employed quite subser- 
 vient to political purposes, and thereby to supply imperial despotism 
 with a fresh weapon. 
 
 However, I must give Napoleon credit for using this weapon in 
 such a manner as is calculated to wheedle into submission to his 
 sway the least enlightened portion of the working classes ; for the 
 watchword of the presidents in the " conseils des Prud'hommes" 
 seems to be, ever since the empire was re-established : " Let us turn 
 the scale in favour of the operatives"; and I have it from workmen 
 thoroughly acquainted with all that refers to their class, that, 
 whereas under the reign of Louis Philippe the masters mostly carried 
 their cause, it is just the reverse which happens now — the imperial 
 policy being to indemnify the working men by some material advan- 
 tages for the loss of those lofty, ennobling enjoyments which man 
 
590 An Account of the 
 
 derives from the sense of liis self-dependence secured, and of his 
 dignity unimpaired. 
 
 It is to be remarked that there are many places in France where 
 no " Conseil des Prud'hommes " has been as yet established ; and it 
 ■would be desirable that such an institution should be extended to 
 every town in France, were the principle — -which I take to be unob- 
 jectionable— fah'ly and properly carried into practice. 
 
 Moreover, the jurisdiction of the "Prud'hommes" is too restricted, 
 being confined, in most cases, to the settlement of questions merely 
 relating to wages ; and there is little doubt it would be fruitful 
 in more beneficent results, if made to embrace all matters connected 
 with labour. 
 
 Hours of Labour. — In reference to hours of labour, I must 
 observe that the first demand urged by the working men in Paris 
 the day after the Revolution of 1848, was the shortening of the 
 hours of labour. A general meeting summoned by myself was held 
 at the Luxembourg. The question having been brought under the 
 consideration both of the employers and the workmen, was calmly 
 discussed ; and the majority of the employers having yielded of their 
 own accord to the workmen's request, the consequence was the issue 
 by the Provisional Government of a decree shortening the hours of 
 labour from eleven to ten in Paris, and from twelve to eleven in the 
 provinces. This decree was issued on the 2nd of March, 1848, but 
 was abrogated as soon as the re-actionists got the upper hand, that is, 
 in September, 1848, when it was enacted that the day's work in fac- 
 tories should not exceed twelve hours — which was a milder form of 
 expressing that it could last twelve hours. 
 
 The following are the provisions of the law of the 22nd of March, 
 1841, which regulates the intervention of the state in behalf of chil- 
 dren. 
 
 No child under eight years of age is allowed to be employed, 
 either in a factory where more than twenty operatives are gathered, 
 or in any establishment where there is a steam-engine. 
 
 Children, from the age of eight to that of twelve, must not be set 
 to work for more than eight hours out of twenty-four, with an interval 
 of rest 
 
 Children, from the age of twelve to the age of sixteen, may be set 
 to work twelve hours out of twenty four, but not longer, with inter- 
 vals of rest. Their labour must be performed in the daytime, i.e., 
 between five o'clock in the morning and nine o'clock in the even- 
 ing. 
 
 Children, under thirteen years of age, are prohibited from working 
 in the night time, unless the standing still of an hydraulic machine, 
 or some urgent repair, should make it necessary. 
 
 No chUd under twelve is to be admitted into a factory, unless his 
 parents furnish proof that he frequents a school, either public or 
 private. 
 
 Those guilty of any infringement of the law respecting the labour 
 of children, are liable to a fine not exceeding 15 francs, for each child 
 
Legislation affecting Labour in France. 591 
 
 thus unduly employed ; but in no instance is the total penalty allowed 
 to exceed 200 francs (£8). 
 
 In case of a repetition of the offence, the fine is raised from 15 
 francs to a sum neither less than 16 francs nor more than 100 francs, 
 for each child, the whole penalty ranging in like manner from 200 
 francs to 500 francs. 
 
 Consequently, a manufacturer might violate the law twice, by twice 
 setting to work any number of children in his employment under 
 twelve years of age, for any number of hours above the maximum 
 of the law, without incurring any worse penalty than a £20 fine. 
 
 Apprenticeship. — The law which regulates apprenticeship was 
 passed on the 22nd and 24th of March, 1851. 
 
 The apprentice-indenture may be drawn up either as a public or 
 a private deed. It riiay even be agreed upon by word of mouth. 
 Any such persons as notaries, secretaries of " Conseils des Prud'- 
 hommes" and clerks of justices of peace, are empowered to keep 
 the apprentice-indenture. Entry must be made in the apprentice- 
 indenture, first of the name. Christian name, age and trade of the 
 master ; second of the name, Christian name, age and residence of 
 the apprentice ; third of the names. Christian names, trade and resi- 
 dence of his father and mother, or, in theii' default, of his guardian ; 
 fourth of the date of the contract and of how long it is to last ; fifth 
 of all conditions connected with boarding, accommodation, &c. 
 
 The indenture must be signed by the master and by the represen- 
 tatives of the apprentice. 
 
 No one, under one and twenty years of age, is allowed to receive 
 apprentices under age. 
 
 No bachelor or widower is allowed to house, as apprentices, girls 
 under age. 
 
 Those are prohibited from receiving apprentices who have been 
 sentenced for felony or for outrage against morals. 
 
 The master is bound to treat his apprentice with fatherly kindness, 
 to watch over his conduct, to acquaint his parents with any fault he 
 may commit or any vicious propensity he may exhibit, and to give 
 them immediate notice of anything of a nature to call for their inter- 
 vention. 
 
 Never must the master require of the apprentice any service 
 unconnected with his trade, unless formally entitled to do so by the 
 indenture. In no case, is the apprentice to be set upon a work 
 beyond his strength. 
 
 The daily labour of apprentices under fourteen years of age is not 
 allowed to exceed ten hours. Nor is the daily labour of those between 
 fourteen and sixteen allowed to exceed twelve hours. Those under 
 ■sixteen must not be set to work in the night time, that is, between five 
 o'clock in the morning and nine o'clock in the evening. 
 
 In no case are apprentices bound to work on Sundays. 
 
 If an apprentice under sixteen years of age know not how to 
 read to write, or to calculate, his master is bound to allow him time 
 for his instruction, two hours a day being deemed sufficient. 
 
592 An Account of the 
 
 Obedience and respect are due by the apprentice to his master. If, 
 during his apprenticeship, he has been ill, orabsent formore than fifteen 
 days, he is bound, when out of his time, to make it up to his^ master. 
 
 The two first months of apprenticeship are considered as a period 
 of trial, during which the deed may be annulled, if such be the will 
 of one of the contracting parties. In this case, by none of the parties 
 is any indemnity to be claimed unless previously agreed upon. 
 
 Should one of them happen either to die or to be enlisted as a 
 soldier, or to be sentenced for the crimes above mentioned, the con- 
 tract is dissolved by right. 
 
 As regards girls under age, it is also dissolved by right at the death 
 of the master's wife. 
 
 Livret. — The provisions of the law of May, 1851, respecting what 
 is called the "Livret," are worth mentioning. 
 
 The "Livret" is a little book which every workman is bound to 
 show the master by whom he wishes to be employed, in order to 
 prove that he has fulfilled his engagements towards his last employer. 
 
 By law passed on the 21st of May, 1851, it had been enacted that 
 the "Livret" should remain in the hands of the employer till the 
 work agreed upon was completed, and that, till then, the employer 
 should be entitled to withhold the "Livret," unless the workman was 
 prevented from fulfilling his engagements by circumstances beyond 
 his control. This has been changed by a more recent law, which 
 runs thus: 
 
 The moment an employer receives a workman, the date of the 
 admission of the latter must be entered in the " Livret." The em- 
 ployer must enter in a separate register the name and Christian name 
 of the workman, the name and residence of his last master, further, 
 the amount of money the workman may have received in advance. 
 This being done, the "Livret" must be delivered to the workman 
 and remain in his hands, till he leaves, when an entry is to be made 
 in the " Livret" of the date of his departure, of the discharge of his 
 engagements, and of the amount of such advances as may have been 
 made to him by his master, if not exceeding thirty francs; for no 
 larger sum is allowed to be entered in the "Livret," and if the employer 
 happens to have advanced more than thirty francs, he must run the 
 risk of it himself. 
 
 It is easy to perceive that the object of the institution of the 
 "Livret" is to bring the workman under subjection. In fact, the 
 "Livret" enables any master who bears a grudge to one of his work- 
 men, to denounce him in this kind of industrial passport, and so to 
 shut him out from all possibility of being employed by other, persons. 
 It- is true that, apparently for the sake of preventing the evil, the 
 law expressly forbids the employer to make any remarks in the 
 "Livret," either favourable or unfavourable, concerning the work- 
 man; but this prohibition is one which the employers can easily elude 
 by using, instead of written words, some conventional signs hardly 
 perceptible, whose meaning — as is the case in the craft of Freema- 
 sons — is a mystery to every one but the members of the fraternity. 
 
Legislation affecting Labour in France. 593 
 
 Such, at all events, is the idea entertained by the working men, 
 ■who regard the " Livret" as a badge of social slavery, and hold it in 
 perfect abhorrence. 
 
 Besides, it brings them, to a certain extent, into political bondage, 
 owing to the fact that the " Livret" is delivered, all over the kingdom, 
 by the mayors, who have been made entirely to depend upon govern- 
 ment ; whilst, at Lyons, it is delivered by the prefect of the depart- 
 ment, and, at Paris, by the prefect of police. 
 
 It may be said that, under the reign of Louis Philippe, the law 
 relating to the "Livret" was never seriously enforced; the imperial 
 government, on the contrary, takes special care that it should be 
 strictly carried into effect. The most recent law on the subject con- 
 tains the following article: — " The employers cannot (ne peuveni) 
 employ a workman, unless the latter be provided with a ' Livret ' in 
 due form." 
 
 Strikes in France are foi'bidden by law. The penal code, whilst 
 equally prohibiting all combinations of masters for lowering wages, 
 and all combinations of workmen for raising them, had most unjustly 
 attached to the violation of the law a harder penalty in the second 
 than in the first case; hence the law of the 27th November, 1849, 
 prescribing the same penalty in both cases, that is imprisonment 
 from six days to three months, and a fine of from sixteen to three 
 thousand francs. As to the promoters of any such movement, they 
 are liable to imprisonment from two to five years. 
 
 This law rests on the principle of distributive justice. But it is 
 important to remark that, while the masters have been allowed 
 privately . to discuss their class interests in committees, called 
 "chambres d'entrepreneurs," no such privilege has everjbeen con- 
 ferred upon the workmen. The consequence is, that a combination 
 of employers can be formed with impunity, provided some precau- 
 tions be taken to screen the promoters, whereas the originators of a 
 similar movement in behalf of the employed have no regular means 
 of secretly concerting measures, and therefore little chance of escap- 
 ing the penalty; which is tantamount to saying, that this law does 
 not differ from such as have been defined cobwebs which stop flies, 
 and are broken through by wasps. 
 
 Here, sir, I must pause, as it would carry me too far to go into 
 more minute details. Moreover, I think this suflicient to enable 
 you to form a general idea of the condition of the working classes in 
 France, as connected with French legislation. 
 
 I understand that a meeting of the "National Association for 
 the Promotion of Social Science " is to be held in Glasgow. If you 
 deem it advisable to bring the present communication under the 
 notice of the meeting, as having been made to you by me, I have no 
 objection to your doing so, as I am ready to answer for the accuracy 
 of my statements. . 
 
 I am, Sir, obediently yours, 
 
 Louis Blanc. 
 
 To F. H. Hill, Esq. 
 
AN ACCOUNT 
 
 OF 
 
 THE DISCUSSION AT GLASGOW, 
 
 ON THUESDAY SEPT. 27th, 1860, 
 
 ON THE MOTION THAT THE EEPOET OF THE COMMITTEE ON TEADES' 
 SOCIETIES BE EECEIVED. 
 
 The Eight Hon. Sie JOHN S. PAKINGTON, Baet., M.P., 
 
 PEESIDING. 
 
 It has been thought desirable to append to this volume a fuller 
 account than has appeared, or could be conveniently inserted else- 
 where, of the discussion at G-lasgow, which followed the reading of 
 the Eeport of the Committee on Thursday, September 27th. On the 
 previous day, papers on the following subjects had been read by the 
 gentlemen whose names are annexed : — 
 
 (1.) Trades' Unions and their Tendencies. By Edmund Potter, 
 F.E.S., Manchester. 
 
 (2.) The Objects of Trades' Unions. By A. F. Hunter, of the 
 G-lasgow Council of United Trades. 
 
 (3.) Trades' Unions, and their Effects on Society. By Peter 
 Allan. 
 
 (4.) Trades' Unions and their Objects. By William Caw. 
 
 (5.) Workman and Master. By Thomas Pringle. 
 
 (6.) Trades' Unions not injurious to the Welfare of Society. By 
 Alexander Frazer. 
 
 (7.) The Improvement necessary for the more effectual W^orhing 
 of Trades' Unions. By the Representatives of the United Joiners 
 of Grlasgow and the West of Scotland. 
 
 As these papers will be reprinted, either in full or in a condensed 
 form, in the Transactions ,oi th.& Association, it is unnecessary, with 
 one exception, to do more than enumerate them here. The excep- 
 tion in question is the paper of Mr. Potter, on Trades' Unions and 
 their Tendencies. As this paper was frequently referred to in this 
 discussion, a short abstract of its leading points may be useful. 
 After admitting that " strikes as the action, and the almost inevi- 
 table result of commercial bargaining for labour, will always exist," 
 and are criminal only " when intimidation or force is used to compel 
 a bargain by either side," Mr. Potter proceeded to contend : — That 
 labour must be considered as a mere purchaseablc article, like all other 
 commodities, and ought to be bought and sold, and weighed and 
 
 QQ 
 
596 An Account of the 
 
 measured accordingly ; . . . and that all the law ought to do, so far 
 as the adult is concerned, is to define the standard of measure and 
 currency to be used. In the contest between the owners of capital 
 and the mere seller of physical labour, the prime moving power must 
 be the mind or will of the purchaser of labour; he it is who seeks the 
 worker, states his wishes, oifers the contract, and directs the mode of 
 operation. . . . There can be no other ground for interference than 
 the supposed helplessness of one of the parties. This helplessness 
 on the part of the labourer is due to the fact that, during a contest with 
 a trade union, or even a combination of trade unions, the capitalist 
 can employ his capital elsewhere, at some rate of interest, though to 
 do so may involve loss and some disarrangement of his business. The 
 labourer, on the contrary, fixed to a certain district, fixed still more 
 by his union, fettered again by the want of savings, is compelled to 
 seek strength by union. Trades' unions, like all protective combi- 
 nations, arise from jealousy, fear and weakness ; and this weakness, 
 again, is traceable to the fact that the labourer is not the capitalist 
 he might be. Two-thirds of the working class might save ;— not 
 one-third does save ; hence their want of power and their anxiousness 
 for combinations. The capitalist, be he the owner of fifty, or of fifty 
 thousand pounds, can think and operate as he likes, and he can do 
 both coolly, maintaining his individual judgment. The unionist 
 can do neither, he must move even to direct misery by the will of 
 the multitude, the very large majority of whom may be less educated 
 and less thoughtful than himself. Many men have sacrificed the ad- 
 vancement of a life to the narrow subjection of a trades' union — some 
 from honourable motives, but in most cases from bodily fear and a 
 want of moral courage. First-class workmen have consented to abide 
 by a uniform rate of wages, who, but for so doing, might have become 
 masters. In regard to the alleged indifference of the masters as to 
 the cause of strikes, this arises from the conviction that the fact of 
 their being purchasers of labour, a saleable and purchaseable commo- 
 dity, ought not to subject their transactions to the special interference 
 of third parties. The condition and education of the present genera- 
 tion of working men should make them, if they chose, as honestly 
 independent of the master class as does competition between buyers 
 and sellers of other commodities. Practically, unless demand and 
 consequent supply can be left level for all classes of labour, it must 
 prove itself a commodity, and sink or rise in value. With respect 
 to the admission of working men to a partnership with their em- 
 ployers, the working man, as a rule, consuming his wages, leaves" 
 no savings to form capital as a security ; nay, if he were a fair 
 partner, getting nothing when nothing was earned, starvation or 
 the workhouse would be his doom during every period of panic and 
 stagnation. The partners, moreover, could not by any process be 
 brought to such a level, intellectually or pecuniarily, as to enable 
 them to find a basis for a division of profits. The success' of all 
 private concerns, and more particularly of those larger ones which are 
 constantly looked upon by the unsound philanthropist class as those 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 5&7 
 
 which ought to be shared in by the workmaB, is mainly owing to the 
 energetic employment and the working of saved capital, and not to 
 large profits. If the workmen chose to use their small savings, they 
 can now avail themselves of partnerships in almost every trade, 
 under the Limited Liability Act; not perhaps, with a promise of 
 success, as, except in rare cases, they cannot be successful in com- 
 peting with individual energy and capital. It is worse than idle to 
 try to force a community of interests, where competition, as in every 
 other case, alone can give progress. Unsoundness must attach itself 
 to every purely trade union, whether it be a burial club, a society for 
 the regulation of wages, or for-the enforcement of partnerships. The 
 executive supported by the mere majority, that majority the least 
 educated, will offer a retarding influence. Further, no trade union 
 ever encouraged invention. Hundreds of inventions are not used 
 because trades' unions are strong enough to prevent them. This is 
 shown in the case of brickmaking machines, and thus millions of bad 
 bricks are annually made, and thus society is injured. Unfortunately, 
 the working man continues, in almost every trade — in policy or feeling 
 at least — -the unionist. One of the most mischievous fallacies of the 
 day is the idea that labourers have the power to form successful and 
 useful combinations, and that masters will voluntarily give in all that 
 had hitherto been tried by force to obtain from them ; and that 
 between employers and employed the relations will be those of 
 voluntary partnership. There is a strong distinction between asso- 
 ciations for competitive trade purposes, or for national ones, and 
 trades' unions, which are so many unspund monopolies. Associa- 
 tions are voluntary — unions are entered into from class feeling, from 
 fear, and for restriction. No trade union, no protective monopoly, 
 has ever really benefited a people. It may have benefited, tempo- 
 rarily, a small class, but it injures the mass. The masters — far from 
 wishing to shelter their own class — advise competition. Edu- 
 cation and industry are the best securities for individual and 
 national progress. The conclusions Mr. Potter comes to are — that 
 trades' unions are founded for an unsound purpose ; that consequently 
 their moral effects are bad ; that society can be best aided by free 
 and open competition ; and that education and forethought alone can 
 secure to every one his fair reward. 
 
 The necessity and beneficial effects of trades' unions were vin- 
 dicated in the remaining papers read before the section, with the 
 exception of those of Mr. Allan and Mr. Pringle ; the former of 
 whom contended that trades' unions had no good efiect on the eleva- 
 tion and improvement of the working classes ; the latter, that their 
 interference with prices was pernicious and injurious. 
 
 The Chairman said, that although he had not had the honour of 
 being president of any of the departments on this occasion, he had been 
 requested to preside at the discussion which would take place, founded, 
 he believed on a report of a committee appointed by the Council of 
 the Association to consider the question, so extremely interesting 
 and important to the trade of the country — namely, the institution of 
 
 QQ2 
 
598 An Account of the 
 
 trades' unions ; and, he understood also, the pi-ganization of strikes, 
 which had arisen in various parts of the country. He felt it his duty 
 to accede to the request, influenced partly by the feeling that his own 
 mind was perfectly impartial on the subject. He was quite con- 
 vinced that it was a subject open to great discussion and various dif- 
 ferences of opinion ; and he had to express a hope, especially 
 considering the interesting and somewhat exciting nature of the sub- 
 ject, that it would be calmly discussed ; and discussed entirely on 
 abstract and general grounds. And he was sure they would con- 
 sider that he was only fulfilling the duty he had undertaken in 
 occupying the chair, if he presumed upon that authority to interfere 
 if there was any improper deviation from those principles of cahn 
 discussion. It now only remained for him to submit to them whether 
 it was their pleasure that in the conducting of the discussion they 
 would adopt a rule — which had been adopted in other rooms, and in 
 the adoption of which he himself had been instrumental — to limit the 
 period to be occupied by each speaker. He would therefore be glad 
 to be informed what was their pleasure, as it would be better to de- 
 termine at the outset whether they would have any, and what limit ; 
 and whatever the arrangement might be, let them start with the 
 understanding that they would adhere to it. 
 
 On a show of hands being ^taken, it was agreed by a large majority 
 to fix a limit to the time allotted to each speaker. 
 
 The Chaiemak said the next question was, what the limit should 
 be — ten minutes or fifteen minutes, or more ? 
 
 The meeting by a large majority determined that the limit should 
 be ten minutes. 
 
 Mr. Rathbone then read the Eeport. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Hughes said, his duty on this occasion, in opening 
 this debate, was one which was chiefly official, as he had been, in con- 
 junction with Mr. Rathbone, the secretary of the committee ; and 
 therefore he wonld pro forma move the reception of the Report. Ho 
 did not suppose that in. a meeting like that it would be either attain- 
 able or judicious to move the adoption of the Report. The volume 
 contained accounts of. several of the chief disputes between mas- 
 ter and men which had taken place for the last few years. The 
 preparation of these reports had been entrusted to individual members 
 of the committee : the documents and information relating to a strike 
 were given to one member, and the other members gave him all the 
 assistance in their power ; but the compiling of a report from these 
 sources was entrusted to a single member, and he only was respon- 
 sible for it. It was impossil^le, on fin occasion like that, exactly to 
 make up one's mind as to where to end, or where to begin ; but it 
 was not very necessary that he should go into his own opinions, as 
 they were, on the whole, satisfactorily represented in the Report 
 which had been read. He believed he should have an opportunity at 
 the end of the discussion of making any remarks that it might occur to 
 him to make ; and in the meantime he felt that he should be standing 
 in the way of persons who ought to be heard if he were to detain. 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 599 
 
 them. But before lie sat down he thought it must be satisfactory to 
 , them to feel that this discussion would bo a honafide discussion. It 
 must be very satisfactory to the committee to find that their labours 
 had not been thrown away, since both the members of trades' unions 
 and their employers had been well and ably represented in the 
 papers read, and the discussion which took place yesterday. As 
 to what the chainnan had said with reference to the temper of 
 the discussion, he felt certain that it would be all that it should 
 be ; and he would especially im.press on members of trades' unions, 
 that when they saw employers come there to take the trouble of ad- 
 dressing them on the subject, they should remember that those 
 employers had in so doing shown the very best feeling towards them. 
 The old tone was, " We will recognise no interference between our- 
 selves and our men ;" and therefore he said that any member of a 
 trades' union who came there in that capacity owed a great debt 
 to the employers who had come there to discuss the matter with 
 them. While expressing his thanks to those gentlemen who spoke 
 yesterday — and though he wished particularly to put himself in 
 their point of view, and to look at matters with their eyes — still he 
 was struck with one difference, which he feared was a radical dif- 
 ference, between himself and them ; and to that point he would like 
 to draw their attention. The foundation of that difference was, that 
 they treated the labour of their men, which was in fact the lives of their 
 men, on the same principles as those on which they treated a dead com- 
 modity. They most rigorously applied to it the same law of supply 
 and demand as they applied to any other commodity, thereby putting 
 the living man and inanimate things on the same footing. Well, 
 that might be a capital rule of thumb. They might lay down a law 
 and act up to it ; but the rule would not work. What had brought on 
 all the discussion as to the antagonism of classes ? Simply the at- 
 tempt to carry that rule rigorously out. He believed that had raised 
 those disputes, and would continue to the end of time to raise them. 
 They must look from a different point of view. They must treat the 
 living man according to different rules from those which they applied 
 to the dead material. This committee was certainly a remarkable 
 instance of the change which came over persons when they inquired 
 into facts, instead of swallowing what the Times or any other news- 
 paper might say. Here Avas a committee of thirty gentlemen, amongst 
 whom were several influential employers. Two-thirds of these 
 gentlemen started in the belief that as a rule trades' unions were in 
 the hands of mere demagogues, not working men. But, he believed, 
 they were now unanimous in the conclusion that this was not so. 
 As was stated in the Report, they believed that the leaders of trade 
 societies were generally men who represented the feeling of their 
 class, and also able and proficient workmen, who really lived by 
 their trade, and who had little to do with agitations. They (the 
 committee) were at first almost unanimous in their belief that trades 
 unions fostered bad blood and ill-feeling between masters and men; 
 but from the histories of all the strikes he had gone into, he was ot 
 
600 An Account of the 
 
 opinion that trades' unions tended to stop strikes, and not to foster 
 them. He hoped that one result of this inquiry would be, that 
 the masters and men would in their own trades come to a reasonable 
 means of settling their disputes without strikes. He felt that, there 
 certainly might be tribunals in each trade in which masters and men 
 might be fairly represented, which should' take into account not only 
 minor questions which arose in that trade, but the more impor- 
 tant question of wages. These tribunals, which he hoped shortly 
 to see, would have a great influence on the trades : questions would 
 be brought befoi-e them ; public opinion would back up their deci- 
 sions, and would enforce them upon any party who might wish to 
 get out of them. That was not only his 0"^vn opinion merely, but 
 that of one of the largest employers in Yorkshire, who suggested 
 that a society should be formed for the purpose of introducing these 
 boards of arbitration for trades. He would now move that the 
 Report be received. 
 
 Sir Aechibald Alison. — In opening this debate, I trust I shaU 
 not forget the very salutary caution given to the speakers, not to 
 deviate from the temperate expression of opinion, and not to give 
 way to any feeling of exasperation or hostility, nor to trespass on the 
 limits of time. I quite concur in the statements made in the Report ; 
 but I think there is a great deal more in the case — a great deal more 
 of a practical kind which is not stated, in regard to the diiferences 
 between masters and workmen. In order to illustrate what I have 
 to say on this subject, I shall in a few words state the views enter- 
 tained by those who represent the interests of capital, and by those who 
 represent the interests of labour. The masters — who have carried 
 with them, as the men will think unfortunately, the suffrages of 
 society — are of opinion that trades' unions are the greatest social 
 evils that now exist in society ; that worse than plague, pestilence, 
 and famine, they combine the whole influence of these three things : 
 for they are a plague spot on society, a pestilence on the human 
 mind, and bring famine on all concerned. That is the opinion 
 entertained by the masters of them. But I would ask, what is the 
 opinion of the workmen as to them ? Their opinion is, that trades' 
 unions are indispensable to compensate for the weight of capital in 
 an advanced community ; that such is the concentrated power of 
 capital, concentrated in one man or in a certain number of men, that, 
 unless men combine together and meet that power by the organiza- 
 tion of numbers on the other hand, there must inevitably ensue, from 
 the principle of competition, the prostration of industry manacled in 
 the fetters of capital. That is the view that the workmen take of it; 
 and I think they have reason to believe that if they were deprived 
 of the power of combination their wages would gradually, by the 
 force of competition, be brought down to such a point that they 
 would be reduced to the condition of the serfs of Russia or the ryots 
 of Hindostan. I have laid before you, candidly and honestly, the 
 views of both parties ; and I will now state what I think of these 
 opposite opinions-. I must fii'st observe, that no one has any concep- 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 601 
 
 tion of the magnitude of the devastation caused by these strikes. It 
 was said by a workman at that exhilarating meeting which we had 
 last night in the City Hall, that no human being could imagine the 
 amount of suffering that prevails amongst the working classes in 
 consequence of the variation of trade and the depression of industry 
 which often visit a great commercial country like this. While that 
 is perfectly true, I could not help thinking at the time how much 
 greater, and how much more lamentable, is the distress caused 
 by strikes, which often follow commercial depression ; and how 
 mournful is the feeling which one has on seeing the storm gather- 
 ing, and knowing that suffering and misery are unavoidably to 
 be diffused throughout the country by causes beyond our control, 
 and that it is quite certain that that suffering will be terribly and 
 indefinitely augmented by the strikes which follow. I do not think 
 that it is possible to exaggerate the evils of strikes. I have been 
 brought into contact, officially, as public prosecutor and as sheriff, 
 with five or six great strikes in this country, and I am sure I am 
 within bounds when I say that each of these strikes has cost the 
 labouring classes of Lanarkshire not less than £500,000. That is 
 not the loss sustained merely in wages of the labourers ; it is the 
 loss divided by them with the persons with whom they deal, and by 
 the persons who depend on their labour. In short, for every one 
 who strikes there are at least six or eight other persons thrown intj 
 distress who have never struck, who are adverse perhaps to strikes, 
 but who nevertheless are the innocent participators in the suffering 
 they produce ; for they have this evil, that the distress touches not 
 only the individual, but a vast number of third persons who may 
 be adverse to the strikes. In contemplating this subject, it appears 
 to me that there are two points which are of vital importance with 
 the view of showing how the evil may be best remedied. The 
 first of these is the great and growing improvement in the way in 
 which trades' unions are conducted. When I say that, I think it is 
 owing not so much to the change of the law in 1825, when trades' 
 unions were legalized, as to the growing influence of public opinion. 
 It has been my painful duty to discover and investigate crimes of 
 the most atrocious kind connected with trades' unions for twenty 
 years after that Act was passed. The first occasion on which I was 
 brought officially into contact with trades' unions was in 1827. The 
 trial I then conducted was one in which a party was put to the bar for 
 throwing vitriol in the face of a young woman, which made her blind 
 for life. The next trial was for throwing vitriol on a young man 
 who had acted contrary to the injunctions of the trades' unions, in 
 1828 ; his clothes were produced in court, and they were actually 
 burnt to cinders by the effect of what was thrown upon him. The 
 third trial was a very remarkable one— a man was brought into court 
 who had been shot in the back by a man acting for the trades' union 
 committee. He was brought into court on a stretcher, almost in the 
 agonies of death, to identify the man who had shot him. Another 
 case occurred in 1837, which ended in the conviction of the cotton- 
 
602 An Account of the 
 
 spinners' assassins. In tliat memorable case it was distinctly proved 
 that thirty-nine manufacturing houses in Glasgow appointed dele- 
 gates, that these delegates appointed a secret select committee, that 
 this committee met in a dark room with hired assassins, and that 
 they prepared a list of the masters in Glasgow who were to be 
 assassinated. The first party who was assassinated was a workman, 
 who was shot in the back and died ; and that proceeding led to the 
 trial which afterwards made so great an impression, and which was 
 of such great benefit to society. The next case was in 1842. It 
 was connected, not with the cotton-spinners, but with the colliers. 
 On that' occasion the people absolutely rose in insurrection, and 
 during several months, every night, there were parties of fifty or 
 sixty men who went about to plunder the country, and it was with 
 great difiiculty that the evil was stopped by the intervention of the 
 military authority. I have stated what was the case then with 
 trades' unions; but now, I am happy to say, the case is very dif- 
 ferent. There was a considerable strike in 1852, attended with no 
 violence; and there Avas a great strike in 1857, attended with no 
 violence whatever. The latter was a strike of the colliers of 
 Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Stirlingshire, and neighbouring counties. 
 No fewer than 30,000 men were engaged in that strike, and they 
 must have thrown no less than 100,000 people out of employment ; 
 but in my county not a single case of violence occurred, and the 
 Lord Advocate informed me, that not a single case was reported 
 from any of the counties concerned in it. I conclude, therefore, that 
 there is a great and growing improvement in this respect, and that 
 trades' unions have become conscious that they injure themselves 
 more than their masters by such conduct, which I hope will never 
 again disgrace the people of this great country. I will explain now 
 why I think trades' unions in themselves are not only proper, but 
 are a necessary balance in the fabric of society. I think without 
 them capital would become far too powerful, and workmen would be 
 much beaten down. What I say, I address to the trades' unionists 
 themselves, and I wish to point out a mode by which they may 
 avoid the disasters which their former conduct has caused, and 
 gain their legitimate objects without incurring the terrible 
 hazard of inducing evils to society. In the first place, I concur 
 in the able Report that has been read, that nothing tends so much to 
 conciliate the working classes as kindly intercourse between master 
 and men. I may say that there is no human being in the country 
 has received a greater amount of forbearance from, and has greater 
 cause of gratitude to, trades' unions .than myself. As a proof of the 
 candour of trades' unions, I may state that shortly after the cotton- 
 spinners' trialj in which I had been obliged in so rigorous a way to 
 proceed against the unionists, a deputation came to me and offered 
 to make me trustee of its funds : a greater instance of moderation 
 and trust was never exhibited. I would also recommend, as it is for 
 their own interests, that trades' unions should attend to the circum- 
 stances under which a strike will be successful and when it must 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 603 
 
 fail. My advice to trades' unions wliicli hare consulted me has been, 
 "Don't strike except when prices are rising ; but never strike when 
 prices are falling." But that is just the reverse of what they 
 sometimes do, and I think there is no greater fallacy pervading 
 society than the impression that strikes must be successful, although 
 I believe there are strikes which are perfectly successful. 
 
 Mr. Edmund Pottee, of Manchester, did not think he should 
 trespass on their time for ten minutes ; but he felt anxious to 
 reply to the remarks of Mr. Hughes. He had read a paper on 
 this subject, and therefore there was no necessity that he should 
 go into it again. He! took a deep interest in it for this reason : — ■ 
 he had a great respect for the lionevolence and intelligence of 
 the members of this committee, but he had very great doubts as 
 to the soundness of their economical views. The question he 
 wished to keep himself to was this — is it a sound economical 
 opinion that labour is like every other commodity, and to be treated 
 as such ? he contended that they could not treat labour in any other 
 way. He had as great a respect for labour as any man, and his object, 
 as well as theirs, was to educate and give moral power to the work- 
 men, and by that means prepare the labourer of to-day for the 
 master of to-morrow — in that city (Glasgow) how many men were 
 there who had risen from the ranks. But his opinion was, that labour 
 was a commodity, and that they could not treat it as anything else, 
 though he would treat it as tenderly as he could. It was an article, 
 saleable, and purchaseable. He wanted to know v/hether they who 
 were in certain trades were to be, subjected to a different class of 
 rules to those which prevailed in other classes of life-*— he wanted 
 to know how they meant to regulate labour, for nothing could be 
 more detrimental than any attempt to regulate the supply of any 
 article whatever. Was the rule that applied to the purchase of the 
 porter's labour not applicable to the barrister's ? If it was not, he 
 should like to know why ? If they attempt to interfere with labour 
 they encourage combination, but he did not object to co-operation. 
 He asserted that in combinations people looked to the interests of 
 their own trade, and not to the public good. Their object was 
 to prevent competition. They had a perfect right to combine_ in 
 any way they chose, provided they did not interfere with the privi- 
 leges of other parties. Combinations were antagonistic to pro- 
 gression in every way ; and he considered them bad in morality. He 
 thought competition was the great safeguard of freedom, and he did 
 protest againt any particular class being subjected to the interference 
 of third parties. Every person knew his own trade, and ought to be 
 left free to carry it out, and he therefore objected to the interference 
 of third persons as arbitrators between men and masters. Education 
 in this country had increased in every way for the last twenty years, 
 and it was that education which had worked such great benefits 
 amongst the people : the less they had of narrow sectional combi- 
 nations the better, for they could only promote squabbles of all sorts. 
 Mr. Hadfield, M.P., in allusion to a remark in the General 
 
604 An Account of the 
 
 Report of Committee as to the system adopted by the trades' unions 
 connected with the hai-dware trades of Sheffield, said he had spoken 
 with a number of workmen with reference to the outrages in that 
 town, and they assured him that they disavowed them entirely : 
 they said they were ready at all times to give every assistance to the 
 police officers in the detection of the perpetrators of those outrages. 
 At a recent dinner of the Amalgamated Trades of Sheffield, the 
 mayor, who was in the chair, denounced these acts of violence in 
 the strongest manner possible, amidst the applause of the whole as- 
 sembly, and stated that he (the mayor) never had had a quarrel in 
 his life with his men. The Corporation had recently solicited the 
 Government to send down commissioners to make an inquiry into 
 the outrages ; the Government refused for reasons of their own ; 
 but it was his (Mr. Hadfield's) firm opinion that the unions of Shef- 
 field perfectly discountenanced every act of violence. 
 
 Mr. Hastings said he was anxious, as a member of the committee, 
 to state his opinion, that however badly trades' unions may have 
 occasionally been managed, and whatever harm they may have 
 sometimes done, yet on the whole they had been advantageous to 
 the condition of the working men, and that it would be impossible 
 to dispense with their existence. His friend Mr. Potter asked, 
 why the relations between labour and capital should be on a totally 
 diflFerent footing to those which exist in other classes of society. 
 He was reasoning from incorrect premises : he (Mr. Hastings) denied 
 that these combinations were confined to workmen ; indeed, com- 
 binations of masters were in existence long before the workmen 
 formed them, and the masters should be the last to ask why the men 
 formed these societies, as long as they kept within the bounds of the 
 law. But it was not only in reference to trades that these com- 
 binations were formed ; for professions had similar, or perhaps more 
 stringent, regulations. The la^vyers were the most unfortunate 
 illustration that could have been used by Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter 
 asked why should regulations be laid down by working men which 
 were not laid down with regard to barristers ; but they really were laid 
 down with regard to barristers in the most stringent manner that 
 could possibly be conceived; for amongst barristers, more than in any 
 other profession, there were regulations as to what should be the fee 
 for certain services ; and if a barrister were taking less than the 
 regular fee he would at once be called to account by his brethren. If 
 Mr. Hughes, for instance, were to leave the court in which he prac- 
 tised, and go into a difierent one, he must receive fifty guineas, and 
 could not give his services for less ; and on some circuits even as 
 much as a hundred guineas were required on a member leaving that 
 circuit. The same with regard to the medical profession ; whenever 
 a profession was organized, the very first regulation laid down was, 
 that the members of that profession should not pursue it under a 
 certain rate of remuneration. Nothing, therefore, could be more 
 unfair than to taunt the working men of this country with enter- 
 taining exceptional ideas on the subject of combination. He did 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 605 
 
 not defend trades' unions in their excesses or their errors ; wJien 
 they interfered witli the freedom of labour, or endeavoured to check 
 enterprise, or in any way encouraged violence, they became evil ; 
 but as long as they confined themselves to their legitimate province 
 of organizing labour and preventing hardship to individuals, they 
 were unquestionably good. He did not think it necessary to 'go 
 into strikes in considering trades' unions; but no sane man could 
 for one moment believe that strikes could be a blessing under 
 any circumstances. Strikes must inflict great suifering, not only 
 on those who are engaged in them, but also upon those who are 
 not directly connected with them. But one very reason that trades' 
 unions were desirable was, that they had a tendency to prevent 
 strikes. The leaders of them were generally intelligent men, and 
 good workmen, and possessed of the confidence of their feUow- 
 labourers ; they thus formed the means of negotiation between the men 
 and the masters, and by that means prevented misunderstandings 
 growing into quarrels, and ultimately terminating in strikes. It 
 seemed to him that trades' unions had been too severely dealt with by 
 public men and the press ; and he hoped this discussion would have 
 the effect of placing them in a better light. 
 
 Mr. Fawcett thought that if they confined the discussion to broad 
 general theory they would avoid that recrimination which was in- 
 dulged in yesterday. Recrimination had already begun to-day — 
 it was said that combinations existed among the masters as well as 
 among the men. He did not think it useful to consider whether com- 
 binations that existed amongst the labourers existed also among the 
 masters — the question was, " are these combinations profitable to the 
 labourer or not ?" If they were unprofitable, it made no diflPerence 
 whether they existed amongst masters or not. He wished to express 
 his entire concurrence in the remarks of Mr. Potter, that labour 
 ought to be considered as a commodity, to be regulated like every 
 other commodity Political economy had been constantly appealed 
 to ; every one who had read a passage of political economy must be 
 aware that the existence of political economy depended upon the 
 supposition that labour in all questions of demand and supply was to 
 be treated identically the same as any other commodity. Active 
 competition was the condition on which the prosperity of the country 
 depended, and therefore it was the duty of the employer to buy 
 labour as cheap as he could. The labourers had a commodity to 
 offer ; the masters wanted to buy it ; but if the men were acting 
 together, when trade was rising they were in a better position to par- 
 ticipate in the masters' improving profits. This proposition, as laid 
 down by Sir Archibald Alison, could not be disproved. Of course 
 it was impossible for him to enter into anything like a proof of it ; 
 but that he considered to be one of the great advantages which 
 labourers gained by forming themselves into combinations. If 
 that were the case, did it not open the satisfactory prospect that 
 strikes must cease ? for if it was true that combinations had influence 
 to make the labourefs participators in the masters' profits, the 
 
606 An Account of the 
 
 direct tendency was to make the men copartners with the masters. 
 They must all admit that the Keport was most valuable, in having 
 cleared up those unjust and untrue assertions which had been cast 
 upon the characters and motives of the delegates of trades' unions ; 
 and he thought nothing could be more dishonourable than for persons, 
 when they had not sufficiently inquired into the subject, to make 
 aspersions on the characters of the delegates. 
 
 Mr. Henkt Ashwokth said he appeared before them as a manu- 
 facturer, as a capitalist, as an employer of labour, and as one not 
 unfamiliar with the opei'ation of strikes, both from his ow)i individual 
 experience, and ffom inquiries hiiving a wider range. He believed 
 it would be admitted by the generality of those who were employers 
 of labour in Lancashire, that the exisieace of organized bodies is 
 essential in the condition of society in which we live. They did not 
 complain of ilie existence of trades' societies, or of the policy with 
 which they v/ere conducted. Ho admitted, however, that they were 
 now conducted in a very different spirit from that which prevailed 
 thirty or forty years ago. One of the questions raised in this dis- 
 cussion had relation to the word " commodity." He was very un- 
 willing to speak of human labour in -any terms that might be deemed 
 a disparagement of it ; but he could not regard it in any other light 
 than as a commoditv. He was a manufacturer and a merchant : he 
 was the servant of the consumer, whether at home or abroad, and 
 that which he produced was not made for his own pleasure, but in 
 obedience to the demand of the consumer. For ihe production of 
 any article — say a jjiece of cloth — in addition to the jilant, he 
 required the raw material, and labour in the production of 
 the cloth was indispensable. Should he characterize the labour 
 as anything different or to be distinguished from the other com- 
 modities which entered into the process of manufacture of the 
 cloth produced? Without intending any disparagement of the 
 quality of humto labour, which was indispensable in his manu- 
 facture, it could not be considered as different from any other 
 article which they called a "commodity." One of the objects of 
 trades' unions had been to establish a uniform rate of wages, and 
 mostly to advance that rate. This would place the manufacturer on 
 the stretch, and might put him at a disadvantage in his trade. It was 
 therefore quitq right and allowable that the masters should maintain 
 their own order by combining amongst themselves for their own pro- 
 tection. The men took care that the masters did not trench uj)on their 
 interests ; and the masters on the other hand took care that the men 
 did not trench upon their interests. Now and then differences arose 
 between them. Arbitration had been spoken of as a means of recon- 
 ciling those differences. For his part he saw no sort of prospect that 
 the interference of third parties could avail. Both masters and 
 labourers were the servants of consumption ; the consumer was the 
 arbitrator, and if production should cease, those who were employed 
 must feel the effects of it. No arbitration could set them right 
 with the manufacturer if the manufacturer had not a profit. Hence 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 607 
 
 arbitration would be a failure if it were attempted. Allusion had 
 been made to the uniformity of payment existing in certain profes- 
 sions, and to the necessity of trades' unions enforcing a certain rate 
 of wages for the men, ; but he very much doubted the efficiency or 
 advantage arising in either case. He had known an instance of 
 the kind in Lancashire. The master bleachers of cotton goods — a 
 very importantj but not a large body — established a rate of wages 
 by which they agreed to abide ; they had strong reasons for adopt- 
 ing a union, and they made a regulation as regards the rate of pay ; 
 but they subsequently abandoned it, and they might be sure they 
 would not have done so if the combination had been to their advan- 
 tage. The iron trade, he believed, still adhered to it ; but as regards 
 professional men, it had become so interwoven with their principles 
 that they could not alter the practice. In the Report which had 
 been read, it was stated that the object of trades' unions was to 
 promote the interests of labour. Now, he would like to ascertain 
 whether it was to promote the interests of labour in a community, 
 or in a locality, or among a section ? 
 
 Mr. GoDFBEY LusHiNGTON Said Mr. Ashworth had alluded to the 
 rules which trades' unions made for themselves, especially the rule as 
 to uniform wages. He would begin by saying, that many of the rules 
 were in the abstract most unreasonable and inconvenient to the em- 
 ployers. He would take three examples. One rule was, that union- 
 ists should not work with non-unionists. It was clearly in the abstract 
 most unreasonable when a master printer wanted to bring out his news- 
 paper, and could not at the time get a man who was connected with 
 the union, and therefore engaged a man who was not a unionist, that 
 the unionist men should strike, and would not work with that man ; — 
 could one suppose it possible that an Englishman shoiald refuse to 
 work with a man because that man was not of the same club as him- 
 self. Another rule was that prohibiting piecework ; yet piecework, 
 where practicable, was clearly the right system. A third rule im- 
 posed a uniform rate of wages for all operatives, good, bad, and in- 
 different. What was the reason of all this ? It was because in a 
 great number of trades a portion of the employers were men who were 
 not worthy of the name of employers ! (Cries of " Order.") He 
 was speaking of a class of employers who hoped to succeed simply 
 'by reducing wages, so as to undersell their neighbours, and to that 
 class of men who were not favourable to fair competition in trade. 
 Against these employers, the protection of some such rules was 
 necessary; for it was found with them, that, if they employed non- 
 unionists, it was to take' advantage of their isolation ; that if they 
 gave out piecework, it was to insinuate a reduction of wages ; that 
 if they were not bound by a uniform rate, they gave less than the 
 market price. But then, why enforce these rules upon that class of 
 employers who did not do this ? The answer was, it_ was a mere 
 matter of practice: they must" have one rule for all, prohibiting piece- 
 work, enforcing uniform wages, and proper work. _ That things 
 should remain in their present anomalous condition, it was hard to 
 
608 An Account of the 
 
 believe. But how alter them ? This was the question for the con- 
 sideration of the meeting. Could- thej go back to the days before 
 unions ? No ; that was impossible for many reasons, of which he 
 would state but two. Unions, as a fact, had, proved inextinguishable, 
 even by the most penal laws, by the most determined lock-outs, and 
 were spreading every day ; and, secondly, it was pretty well esta- 
 blished that without combination, in some form or other, fair wages 
 could not be secured. Could they then go forward ? He put it to 
 the liberal and honest masters of G-reat Britain — Do you, clinging 
 to the name of independence of your own workshops, prefer to put 
 up with trade unions as they are, with all their rules — rules designed 
 against unfair masters, but enforced against fair and unfair alike — 
 rules which embarrass you every day, and have reduced by piece- 
 meal your authority to a name — rules, above all, which lead to the 
 chronic disasters of strikes — will you have that, or shall the masters 
 and men mutually agree ? The masters say, we will waive the 
 shadow of undivided supremacy in our workshops ; the men say, we 
 will give up the exclusive character of our unions ; both accept the 
 form of a council, where masters and men shall meet ; where rules 
 shall he established which will give fair wages to the men, and in- 
 sure to the masters a free and unshackled use of their capital ; and 
 enable all to live on friendly, peaceful, and happy terms. 
 
 Mr. Feegus said he utterly abhorred and detested strikes; but 
 there were some cases in which it would be better if there was some 
 regulating medium between the masters and men. About thirteen 
 years ago he became interested in the engineers of Lanarkshire — a 
 most intelligent class, and one which spent their evenings most 
 rationally — but he was sorry to say that these men had fearfully 
 deteriorated in their moral and physical condition. He set himself 
 to find out what was the cause of the change, and he discovered it to 
 be this : — By competition there had been a system of overtime intro- 
 duced, and that overtime had worked a fearful amount of injury, 
 both moral and physical. The normal rate of employment should be 
 twelve hours a day, with the usual intervals; but instead of that, the 
 men had been compelled to work overtime, and they now conse- 
 quently lacked that time which formerly was devoted to moral and 
 physical improvement. These men were very intelligent, else there 
 would have been a strike amongst them; but it was much to their 
 credit that a strike had never taken place. He did not say that it was 
 the fault of the masters; but, nevertheless, it was a condition of things 
 that required some care. The masters deplored it, and the middle- 
 men between the masters and men said they would willingly get 
 quit of it; and he hoped this Association would aid in doing away 
 with it. The evil was far greater than was generally believed, and 
 it produced amongst the men physical decay, premature death, and 
 in some cases insanity. 
 
 Mr. Lloyd Jones thought they ought all to feel grateful to the 
 committee for the large amount of information which they had ob- 
 tained on this subject. When a gentleman engaged in manufacture 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 609 
 
 undertook to produce an article, lie had to purchase the necessary- 
 things — the raw material and labour. If he went into the market to 
 purchase the raw material, he had to give for it the ruling price of 
 the market at that time. But holders might hold or throw their 
 goods into the market in combination, and so regulate the prices 
 ruling in the market. That was not unfrequently done in relation 
 to tea, sugar, wool, and cotton ; and they might read of meetings in 
 Birmingham, where those connected with the iron trade agree to put 
 their produce into the market in such a manner as to limit the siapply. 
 If any two had a single article for sale they had a right to consult 
 and settle the price which they should take for it. If he had a right' 
 to stand singly, he had a right to stand in combination and in concert 
 with those who were in the same position as himself. The moment 
 the manufacturer wanted labour, he must go to the labourer. Singly 
 the labourer could not get the price which he wanted for his labour ; 
 he would consult with his feUow-labourers, and they would all agree 
 to ask a price which singly they could not obtain. Suppose they did 
 find their combination work well, were they to follow the example of 
 those who did not find their combination desirable ? They them- 
 selves were the best judges as to whether it worked well or not. 
 While granting that labour was a commodity, he thought it was 
 something more. He could not get any man to consider himself a 
 bale of cotton, and allow himself to be treated as such. The question 
 was, how justice should be maintained as between the employer and 
 the employed. The employer laid down his rule, which was isolation; 
 but the employed laid down another rule for himself, that he would 
 not consider himself as a commodity, even though it might be- an edu- 
 cated commodity. They would not accept each other's terms, and a 
 battle took place, and great loss and sufiering were the results, as any 
 one might see who had watched the fights of this description for the 
 last four or five years. Each would strike the hardest blows for the 
 injury of the other ; but they would not use the wisest words for 
 each other's benefit. He thought arbitration was the best thing that 
 could be obtained. There were customs and certain habits of work 
 in every trade, and any questions which might arise as to that 
 standard could readily be settled by calm deliberation. At Notting- 
 ham the men had agreed to settle all difierences by arbitration ; and 
 if they would regard each other, not as a commodity, but as men and 
 Christian Englishmen, as they were bound to do, a great deal of 
 good would be effected both for masters and men. 
 
 Mr. Geo. S. Lefevee said he should not have ventured to offer 
 any remarks if he had not examined the evidence appended to the 
 Report; and he was sure if those facts had been before them many of 
 the gentlemen who had spoken yesterday and to-day would have 
 modified their views, if they had not altered them altogether. On 
 the whole, they must congratulate themselves on the unanimity oi 
 the committee; but that unanimity was on the verge of disagreement, 
 and it was only by leaving out passages of difficulty, and by modify- 
 ing others, that they came to an agreement. He thought it would 
 
10 An Account of the 
 
 be impossible to institute any court of avbidration which should take 
 into consideration anything but the smaller disputes between master 
 and men. The disputes as to wages and time could only be settled 
 directly between masters and men. He himself was of opinion that 
 the law of supply and demand must regulate the amount of wages ; 
 he did not know anything else that would regulate them. The 
 amount of wages was not the amount a man received in money, but 
 what he could get for that money. In fact, any passing shower 
 might make a difference in the rate of wages which a man received. 
 Under these circumstances, in the absence of any other system to 
 regulate the rate of wages, they must go back to the old law of 
 supply and demand ; and he confessed he saw no other means of regu- 
 lating them. The feeling of the meeting appeared to be favourable 
 to trades' societies, and he thought he might claim as a convert to 
 that opinion Sir Archibald Alison. On the whole, he thought he 
 might say that of late there was a considerable change in the feel- 
 ing as to trades' societies — ^perhaps from the better modes of con- 
 ducting them they had become more popular. The Report would, he 
 thought, tend to prove that without combination men were unable to 
 arrive at fair data for the settlement of their wages. It was necessary 
 that there should be some minimum rate of wages, and a fixed time 
 for working. Where there was a combination there was a bargaining 
 between all the men united and individual masters, or the masters 
 united. He confessed that he thought whatever operation trades' 
 societies had in forming guilds or monopolies was a bad one. He 
 belonged to the same trade as Mr. Hughes, which was a great 
 monopoly, but he wished it was done away with. He hoped that 
 they would now have nothing but freedom and fair competition in 
 trade. 
 
 Mr. F. H. Hill rose to offer an explanation. He had been in- 
 formed — for he was not in the room at the time — that exception had 
 been taken to a passage in the Report of the Committee, connecting 
 certain outrages which had taken place at Sheffield with the trades' 
 societies of that place, on the ground that the leaders of trades' 
 societies say there is no such connexion. Obviously, a mere 
 general disclaimer of that kind was morally equivalent only to a 
 plea of not guilty in a court of justice, and left the question still to 
 be tried. The evidence on which the committee relied were the 
 statements of a gentleman who for twenty or thirty years filled the 
 office of superintendent of police at Sheffield, — convictions in courts 
 of law, especially the conviction of John Drury, secretary of the 
 Razor Grinders' Society, who, after trial at York Assizes, was sen- 
 tenced to ten years' transportation for instigating two men of the 
 name of Heathcote to the outrage known in Sheffield, and strong 
 presumptive evidence of various kinds and degrees. These things 
 did not affect the general question of trades' societies. As, how- 
 ever, a statement of the committee had been impugned, he thought 
 it right to state the grounds on which it rests. At the same time, 
 Mr. Hadfield'B disclaimer was no doubt just, as regards the great 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 611 
 
 Isulk of Sheffield artisans, and the majority of the unions, who, in 
 deed as well as in word, did discountenance violence. 
 
 Mr. Alexandee Campbell said that as one having had expe- 
 rience of trades' unions Yor nearly forty years, he could speak experi- 
 mentally on the subject. When Sir Archibald Alison was speaking 
 of the Glasgow cotton-spinners' trial he called out " No, no." Sir 
 Archibald was the prosecutor ; he was the defender of these men. 
 They were called the thugs of society; the press was against them ; 
 public opinion declared them murderers ; and it was in that state of 
 affiiirs that the committee of cotton-spinners called upon him, and 
 asked what he would advise them to do, in order to defend those 
 men. His condition with them was, that if they could give him 
 sufficient evidence that they were not guilty of the crime charged 
 against them he would take up their case. He did so ; and what was 
 the result ? After an unprecedented trial, which lasted he thought 
 ten days, the verdict of the jury, by a majority of one, declared the 
 five cotton-spinners to be only guilty of conspiring to raise wages, 
 and they were unanimously declared to be innocent of all the charges 
 of fire-raising and murder, and the other charges in that extra- 
 ordinary indictment. 
 
 Sir Archibald Alison said the cotton-spinners were found guilty 
 of assault and violence ; but not guilty of murder. 
 
 Mr. Campbell, delegate of the flint glass makers, said he was 
 extremely glad on this occasion to find that Sir Archibald ad- 
 mitted that the present state of society made it a necessity for 
 trades' unions to exist. There was another point admitted, that 
 the leaders of these societies were the chosen representatives of their 
 trades, and that they were the most intelligent, the most sober, 
 the most industrious of their class. These were important facts. 
 Coming to the question as to whether trades' unions should be 
 encouraged and promoted, he admitted that labour was treated 
 as a commodity, but it was a living commodity. It was upon the 
 principle of supply and demand that all trades' unions desired to 
 act ; for they must not allow skill and labour to go a begging to 
 be allowed to toil. But they must combine to support each other, 
 and to regulate the supply of their respective trades and profes- 
 sions. The same law regulated the liberty of entering into trades 
 and professions by apprentices. Should it be the employers of capital, 
 or the men in the trade who should regulate the number of appren- 
 tices coming into that trade ? He believed there were some three 
 or four hundred painters' apprentices in that town, who spoiled the 
 work, but did it cheaper, and rendered men a drug in the market ; 
 when the unskilled men were put into the market, the skilled men 
 were put out — because the unskilled would go cheaper than the 
 skilled. In a paper read yesterday, a gentleman recommended that 
 females should be employed as printers. Were there not in every 
 profession and trade in this country more men than could find em- 
 ployment ? ;In his own experience he remembered at Stockport a 
 movement was made to supersede male labour by female labour, 
 
 E R 
 
612 An Account of the 
 
 because it was cheaper ; but the effect was, for he had seen it him- 
 self, the husband remained at home to look after the children, while 
 the wife went to work in the mill ; and he had actually seen the men 
 going with the women's dinners to the factories. 
 
 Mr. Dunning would briefly remark on the two topics of Mr. 
 Potter's address, which had been most the subjects of remark and 
 difference of opinion — -the arbitration of trade disputes, and the 
 fact of labour being a saleable and purchaseable commodity. He 
 agreed with that gentleman that labour was in every sense of the 
 term a vendible commodity, and would show — as the representative 
 of a trade society, the bookbinders of London — that upon this fact 
 rested the defence of trades' unions. The fact of labour being a 
 vendible commodity, indeed, was the most complete defence of trades' 
 unions that could be adduced. It assumed, as a matter of course, 
 that the workman had a right, as the free vendor of that commodity, 
 to put himself as a bargainer for its sale on a position of equality 
 with its purchaser, which, as his immediate necessities, when taken 
 singly, were greater than those of his employer, he could only do by 
 combination. To consider labour as a vendible commodity was 
 therefore to justify the workman, as a free exchanger or vendor 
 of it, in combining to rectify this inequality, which was inherent 
 in his position as a bargainer for its sale. But there were other 
 circumstances connected with labour, depending upon by whom 
 and by what it was performed, which complicated the question, and 
 which, if not carefully attended to, led to error. Labour, as a 
 vendible commodity, supposed the vendor entirely free to dispose of 
 it to whom he pleased, and at such a price as he could get, which 
 was the position of a free workman. But there was the labour of a 
 serf — the labour of a slave — the labour of a soldier, and that of a 
 sailor ; and, not to mention other agencies, also the labour of a steam- 
 engine. All these laboured, but there was a great difference in their 
 relative position as bearing on this question. A steam-engine could 
 be destroyed, if the owner so willed it. A serf was not a free vendor 
 of his labour, a slave still less so ; indeed, he himself was a chattel 
 or commodity, through his possessing the ability to labour. Neither 
 were the soldier or the sailor, during the period of their service, free 
 vendors of their labour. He was sure that Mr. Potter did not intend 
 to confound these distinctions ; still, unless they were carefully 
 attended to, there was imminent danger of their being confounded. 
 Employers, for want of due consideration, he hoped, rather than in- 
 tention, had sometimes confounded them, and expected, as in the 
 case of the stonemasons' strike at the building of the Houses of Par- 
 liament, the same obedience from their men as — he would not say 
 from the serf or the slave — but certainly as from the soldier or the 
 sailor. The employer in that strike candidly stated, in direct terms, 
 that he did so. And there was at all times danger unless these dis- 
 tinctions were carefully noted, which was not always the case, of 
 their being in a confused, indefinite haze mixed up with the idea of 
 labour and workman. He mentioned these distinctions to show that 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 613 
 
 the consideration of labour per se, as a vendible commodity, was a 
 very different thing to the several relations under which it existed, 
 and the importance of attending to these distinctions. He would now 
 refer to the subject of the arbitration of trade disputes. In his 
 opinion nothing could be more advantageous ; but there was a great 
 difficulty stood in the way of this mode of settlement. The party in 
 the dispute who believed itself to be the strongest was always averse 
 to it. Like as in a fight : the losing party might be quite agreeable to 
 a cessation, while the man who was winning, and his backers, were all 
 for fighting it out. He made no distinction here ; he believed that 
 both employers and employed, if either considered themselves the 
 strongest, would be equally unwilling to submit to arbitration, and 
 give the most plausible reasons why it should not in their case take 
 place. He thought, however, that an arbitration should take place, 
 whether both were willing or not, if one of the parties desired it ; 
 such decision of course to be final. But here arose another difficulty: 
 it was necessary that the arbitrators should be acquainted with the 
 subject to be arbitrated upon, and strictly impartial. But as one of 
 the parties, the strongest, did not desire anything impartial, and, if 
 not impartial, these courts would do infinitely more harm than good, 
 he feared, in this state of distrust and perplexity, it would be some 
 time before they were established. Still, as, in his opinion, their 
 principle was sound, endeavours should not be relaxed for their 
 establishment. As he only intended to remark on these two subjects, 
 he would not further occupy their attention. 
 
 Mr. E. AsHWOETH was glad of this opportunity of calling atten- 
 tion back to the subject which they were discussing — the policy or 
 impolicy of trades' unions, which terminated frequently in strikes. 
 The gentleman who spoke last but one (Mr. Campbell) represented the 
 extreme section that would protect one trade against another. The 
 differences of education and civilization all tended to the right regu- 
 lation of labour ; they tendered their services where they chose, and 
 sold their abilities at the highest price, wherever they could get it. 
 There seemed a tendency to believe that by some artificial means 
 wages could be held at a higher than a natural value. Supply and 
 demand must regulate the rate of wages; and in time of dis- 
 tress the employer could not raise wages — wages must go lower. 
 Where were their trades' unions for that occasion ? Why should 
 he in Lancashire have raised the wages of his labourers with- 
 out their having asked him for it? Simply because there was 
 plenty of employment, and if he had not done so, they would have 
 gone to another place for work. What had raised the wages of 
 domestic servants from thirty to forty per cent. ? Because the em- 
 ployment of women in mills took them away unless they received 
 sufficient wages to induce them to remain. He most sincerely re- 
 gretted that there was a disposition in society to set class against 
 class — one section of society against another, as if the employer of 
 labour was the enemy of the employed. He had seen that very much 
 in his isolated village, the people of which came to him for advice 
 
 B B 2 
 
614 An Account of the 
 
 when they requh'ed it, and who were naturally near his heart. But 
 these people were interfered with by trades' unions. If the trades' 
 union said these people must turn out, they must turn out — there 
 was no alternative. They said they were content with their wages, 
 and did not wish to turn out ; but they dare not disobey the order 
 of the union. He had a great deal of knowledge of what took place 
 at the Preston strike, where the men thought they were invincible. 
 The unions first concentrated their efforts upon Stockport, and then 
 went to Preston. They wanted to enforce the Blackburn prices on 
 the Preston market. That contest cost the men half a million of 
 money, which would have built sufiicient new mills to increase the 
 employment, and so to raise the rate of wages, by the natural pro- 
 cess of supply and demand, to a higher figure than they sought to 
 obtain by the strike. 
 
 Mr. DuNLOP said he had had a good deal of experience of 
 combinations and strikes in that city (Glasgow), in connexion 
 with the cotton trade. He had experience when violence was 
 used to promote the objects of the Union ; but happily those times 
 had passed away. There was some difference of opinion as to 
 recognising the unions of the workmen ; but now they did recog- 
 nise them. He considered them bad things ; but if they did exist, 
 and were well conducted, he did not see why they (the masters) 
 should not meet them. He had had the honour of being chairman of 
 the cotton-spinners of that city for many years, and when they had any 
 questions of wages — for that was now the only question, as they had 
 no question as to whom they employed — they endeavoured to have 
 amicable arrangements with their men. When times were bad, 
 the men submitted to a reduction of wages ; but, as times im- 
 proved, they had an advance. Of course the men knew very well 
 whether trade Avas improving, or whether it was not improving ; 
 and they sent a deputation to ask an increase when trade was im- 
 proving. He always represented to the men, " You and I are 
 in the same boat ; it cannot be for your interests that I should 
 have no profit ; if there is no profit, the mills cannot increase, and 
 you will be thrown out of employment." He had always found 
 the men disposed to listen to that argument; and he had known 
 them put off a demand for six months, during fluctuating trade, to 
 see whether the advance was likely to be permanent. They met 
 him with great pleasure, and he was always glad to see them ; but 
 allow him to say, he did not think their unions did them any good. 
 His impression was, that they would get just as much wages without 
 a union as they did with it, and that the simple process of supply 
 and demand would regulate their wages perfectly well. Let the 
 men ask what they would, and let the master give what he could 
 afford. But there were unions — what he would call bad unions — 
 where they enforced questionable regulations, gave up their work if 
 they did not get what they wanted, and compelled others to do the 
 same. That system was very disastrous to trade. 
 
 Mr. John H. Cooper thought that they, as representatives of the 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 615 
 
 working classes, might congratulate themselves on the Report on 
 Trades' Unions. He was not going into the abstract principles 
 that some gentlemen had been at great pains to illustrate, for he 
 was speaking to the Report, and the question was the utility or 
 non-utility of trades' unions. They had heard a good deal from 
 Mr. Potter of the results which had followed to the working classes 
 in consequence of trades' unions ; allow him also to state a fact. 
 He stood there as the representative of the letter-press printers 
 of Scotland, a body of 1,400 or 1,500 men, with a bank account of 
 upwards of £1000. For six years past not one man had sullied the 
 roll of the poor, either directly or indirectly; they had never entered 
 a criminal court ; and if any were desirous of emigrating, the society 
 had ample funds at its disposal, and it willingly disposed of them. 
 In reference to a court of conciliation, would they allow him to point 
 out how the end aimed at might be carried into effect without either 
 Act of Parliament or arbitration ? A collision occurred between the 
 masters and the men ; and the men offered, before they went out on 
 strike, or before they attempted to strike, to leave the matter to 
 arbitration. The employers refused to submit to arbitration, and 
 would have nothing but their own terms. They (the men) proposed 
 to plead their case before the judicial authority. A reference came up 
 before Mr. Sheriff Bell, and they gained the case. He had shown 
 that trades' unions were doing the work that all the regenerators 
 of human kind wished done ; and within the last ten years, his pro- 
 fession, as a body (he was not taking any isolated town, but the 
 whole country), had increased in wages, in respectability, in moral 
 power, and, above all, it had increased in that self-respect which 
 alone could command the applause of others. 
 
 Mr. Lindsay said, that having been for several years connected 
 with trades' unions in Scotland, he would make a few remarks on 
 some points which had not yet been referred to. The last speaker 
 had alluded to the utility or uses of trades' unions. He found it was 
 not an uncommon thing to say, that as soon as the working classes 
 had become better educated, so soon to a certainty would the abuses 
 connected with these societies cease. For his own part he must say, 
 that so far as his experience of trades' societies went, there was, he 
 thought, no institution in this country more valuable than they 
 were. He believed that as an educational institution they would 
 find them acting in the direction which would ultimately raise the 
 working classes from their present position. The subject of non- 
 society men had been spoken of as one of the abuses connected with 
 trades' unions ; he had seen a good deal of the working of this parti- 
 cular law, and he thought it one of the most objectionable and per- 
 nicious that could be employed in a trades' society. He had seen it 
 carried so far, that a man had to take his son out of a mill ; and he 
 thought the rule alienated the men from the Union, instead of 
 drawing them towards it. If trades' unions would consider their 
 own objects, and would take the most advantageous course for them- 
 selves the best thing they could do would be to abandon the rule as 
 
616 An Account of the 
 
 to non-society men. Mr. Ashworth, when speaking of the objects of 
 trades' unions, stated, that it was a delusion to suppose that trades' 
 unions could keep up wages above the natural level of supply and 
 demand. Working men did not hold any such opinion. These 
 unions existed for the purpose of keeping wages at the level raised 
 by supply and demand; and it was unfair to represent the working 
 classes as being at variance with a rule which they knew as well as 
 their masters. It had been represented to-day, that trades' unionists 
 acted um-easonably in asking the same amount of wages for a man of 
 indifferent abilities as for a man of good abilities ; but that was not, 
 after all, so directly, as was generally supposed, against the interests 
 of the employer, for if wages were the expression of what the masters 
 could aiford to pay, it must be very clear, that if the workman 
 sought a general scale of wages they would simply be paying the 
 inferior workman for that which they might obtain a proficient 
 workman to execute. He would urge very strongly the great im- 
 portance of a good feeling being entertained between the masters 
 and the men. He had frequently himself been on deputations, as 
 a delegate, to make certain statements to the masters, and he could 
 assure them that he had found very frequently that a strike was 
 determined upon, not so much upon the merits of the question as 
 upon the representations made to the workmen as to the manner in 
 which the masters treated the men who were sent as delegates on 
 their behalf. If there were fewer violations of the laws of courtesy 
 on the part of the masters towards the men, they would hear of 
 fewer strikes and less irritation. The question of arbitration had 
 been spoken of, and it had been said, that no third party should be 
 employed; but let the parties connected with the peculiar trades — 
 the parties who were in a calmer mood — ^be the arbitrators to settle 
 disputed points. And though there might be many abuses arising 
 from a want of knowledge of political economy, it was as frequently 
 on the part of the employers as on the workmen. If a board of arbi- 
 tration existed, it would tend to promote good feeling, and to open 
 up the way of friendship between one class and another; and if 
 the masters received the deputations of the men with courtesy, they 
 would hear of A'cry few strikes. 
 
 Mr. Ludlow said that looking back to the discussion on co-opera- 
 tion two days before, it might almost seem as if they were now 
 putting the horse behind the cart, for assuredly co-operative esta- 
 blishments appeared to him to afford an outlook into an undeveloped 
 future which was not afforded by trades' societies. When he first 
 became interested in co-operation, he felt trades' societies, he must 
 candidly confess, a hindrance, very much more than a help, in the 
 way of co-operative establishments ; and in consequence he had been 
 led to a study of them to see whether they were really hindrances or 
 not, and he could not help feeling that in the present day they were, 
 if sometimes only a necessary evil, yet still a social necessity. He 
 had to express his extreme gratification at the discussion which 
 he had heard ; and more especially at the most able paper and 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 617 
 
 speeches of Mr. Potter and tlie Messrs. Ashworth, who had presented 
 the matter, from the employers' side, as well as it could possibly be 
 presented. Yet if he were a leader of a trades' society he should 
 wish nothing better than to take Mr. Potter's paper and circulate it 
 as far as he could throughout the country. It furnished the most 
 complete argument in their favour that could possibly be devised. 
 He ventured to say, in spite of all the contempt that had been thrown 
 upon such a view, that it was precisely that view of labour as a 
 purchaseable commodity which was the real ground on which these 
 trades' societies could stand. That purchaseable commodity differed 
 from every other in this respect, — it was a purchaseable commodity 
 with a will of its own. It wished to sell itself at a higher rate than 
 the capitalist wished to give for it, and therefore it combined to do 
 so. By the employers' own showing, they could not assimilate the 
 labour, with that will to a commodity without it. Mr. Potter told 
 them he favoured as much as possilsle the education of his work- 
 people — did he educate his bales of cotton, to teach them how to fetch] 
 a higher price ? Mr. Potter spoke of the mind or will of the capi- 
 talist ; let him also accept the mind or will of the labourer, when it 
 said that labour could sell itself at higher prices by combination than 
 by dealing as units. Mr. Potter said he liked to see individual saving; 
 but the combination of small sums of money to support members was 
 exactly that which was done in friendly societies for sickness and 
 burial ; the obtaining by united, concerted action, that which it 
 would be impossible by individual action to obtain. They never 
 could convince ten men who had resolved not to take less than a 
 certain amount that they were more likely to obtain that rate of 
 wages if they did not act together. Day by day these combinations 
 were becoming more and more powerful ; and every unsuccessful 
 strike had the effect of spreading them over a wider field. 
 
 The following conclusions were intended to be read by Mr. Lud- 
 low, at the close of his observations : — 
 
 " 1. I believe that all trade societies and employers' associations 
 should be compelled to register their rules, and on their being cer- 
 tified not to be illegal, should obtain legal means of protecting their 
 funds, recovering subscriptions, &c. 
 
 " 2. I believe that, with the advance of economic knowledge, the 
 ascertainment of the wages and conditions of work which may be 
 reasonably demanded by the labourer at any given time and place 
 becomes more and more a matter, not of mystery nor of guess work, 
 but of practical science, capable of determination by competent 
 persons. 
 
 " 3. I believe, therefore, that disputes relating to such matters are 
 capable of solution at the hands of mixed courts of employers and 
 workmen. 
 
 "4. I believe that the legalization of trade societies and em- 
 ployers' associations Avould greatly' facilitate the working of such 
 courts. 
 
 " 5. I believe that such courts should act primarily bj way of 
 
618 An Account of the 
 
 arbitration, but tbat means could be devised for making their action 
 (within certain limits) compulsory. 
 
 " 6. I believe that strikes and lock-outs, or, in other words, pri- 
 vate commercial wars, are a remnant of barbarism in the midst of 
 civilization, and a disgrace to our social state ; that the allowal of 
 ■them is only justifiable so long as no competent tribunals exist for 
 settling trade disputes ; that such tribunals (towards which Mr. Mac- 
 kinnon's bill would have supplied the first step) must ere long be de- 
 vised ; and that, when this takes place, the public will be entitled to 
 insist on measures of penal legislation against strikes and lock-outs." 
 
 Mr. Samuel Pope said it appeared to him, that in this, as in all 
 other discussions, a fact which was not without its significance, may 
 be seen, that upon the two sides are almost entirely ranged the capi- 
 talist on the one side, and the labourer on the other. (" No, No.") 
 Perhaps he might be taken to represent the general opinion that the 
 ■public formed of the discussion. He could not agree with his friend 
 Mr. Ashworth, that trades' unions were only successful and per- 
 ibrmed their proper functions when they terminated in strikes. 
 They then saw trades' unions under their greatest disadvantages. 
 A strike was the most disadvantageous circumstance under which a 
 trades' union could appear ; but the real and true way to judge of 
 the utility of combinations is not the strikes they have occasioned, 
 but the strikes which they have prevented, by causing wages to be 
 raised. He was exceedingly delighted to hear from Mr. Lindsay 
 that workmen were not such bad political economists as the gentle- 
 men who employed them seemed to think. Trades' unions were 
 beld by their defenders not to regulate the permanent value of labour, 
 but to prevent temporary depression. If it were right to call labour 
 a commodity, it could not be right to call the interests of buyer and 
 seller identical. The interests of all buyers and sellers were antago- 
 nistic ; and it was right on the part of the working men to en- 
 deavour to put themselves in such a position that the seller may be 
 on equal terms with the purchaser, notwithstanding the great ad- 
 vantage which capital has over labour : capital has no stomach, and 
 can wait; the labourer must live, and cannot wait for his necessities. 
 In any case, capital must have the advantage; and that advantage 
 trades' societies endeavour to counterbalance, as their combination 
 enables them to wait, in competition with the capitalist, until their 
 terms are accepted. They were not now discussing the acts of 
 trades' unions in particular instances, but were engaged in seeing 
 whether there was not a sound principle in them. In regard to 
 arbitration, he found the greatest opposition to courts of conciliation 
 on the part of the masters. In the district of the potteries this 
 principle of arbitration had been employed with the greatest success. 
 A court of arbitration, composed half of employers and half of em- 
 ployed, adjust their differences in a way satisfactory to the working 
 classes, and the difficulty was caused by the employers, who thought 
 they had a right to employ their capital without reference to the 
 workmen. 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 619 
 
 Mr. Bazley, M.P., had great doubts as to the utility of trades' 
 unions in raising the wages of the men, though he was quite friendly 
 to the deliberations which ought, and frequently did, occur between 
 the employers and the employed, as in the instance of Mr. Dunlop ; 
 and on these occasions it was perfectly possible for both parties to 
 agree to such terms as might be satisfactory. But he attributed the 
 prosperity of this country not to the trades' unions at all — it was 
 very questionable whether they had contributed to the advance of 
 labour. If they referred to the fact that a century ago manufac- 
 tures scarcely existed in this country, they would find that as they were 
 called into existence, a new field of labour was opened up to those 
 who were very imperfectly employed. But it had been intimated at 
 that meeting that capital was assuming a position that was some- 
 what dangerous to the labour of the country ; and that it did not 
 give the labourer a fair equivalent for his labour ; but if they looked 
 at the increase of capital, they would find that just in proportion to 
 the increase of capital, and co-existent with increasing labour, there 
 had been an increase of wages. There was a great and increasing 
 state of prosperity in this country, which was constantly demanding 
 increase of labour ; and he hoped that increase would continue, for 
 then the labourer would be better paid. He could state, that on 
 many occasions he had voluntarily increased the wages of the labour 
 he employed, simply because there was an increasing demand for 
 labour. There was an important fact which had been omitted in the 
 consideration of this question: employers frequently lost good hands, 
 who were tempted to leave them for better situations ; but, remem- 
 ber, these men were not taken away from their masters because they 
 were good workmen, but for the purpose of communicating infor- 
 mation as to improvements which their employers might have 
 introduced. A labourer frequently contributed to important in- 
 ventions ; but he very frequently took a comprehensive system of 
 manufacture, and conveyed that system, for his own personal 
 advantage, to some other establishment, while a rising competi- 
 tion was often likely to injure his previous employer. They 
 ought also to remember, that in this country there was continually 
 occurring what he might call lapsing industry— where a trade no 
 longer existed in the place where it was formerly carried on. These 
 changes were constantly taking place to a most injurious extent, as, 
 for instance, in Coventry, where a change of fashion had stopped 
 the demand for a particular kind of ribbon ; and, unless there was 
 a free agency on the part of capital, and also on the part of labour, 
 they could not have the means of keeping up with the changes 
 which continually took place. No trades' unions could possibly 
 have the effect of keeping up the rate of wages in a branch of in- 
 dustry that was rapidly declining on account of the demand for the 
 article becoming less. Essentially, the statements of Mr. Potter 
 would, he thought, be found absolutely, practically, and economi- 
 cally correct in every point of view. Happily, strikes were now 
 less frequent ; and he believed that as the labouring classes and as 
 
620 An Account of the 
 
 the employiug classes became better informed, strikes would become 
 stiU less frequent. There was that spirit of self-adjustment in com- 
 mercial matters which would be more effective than any means of 
 dictation that could be called into existence. 
 
 Mr. Scott, of Belfast, said he was sui'j)rised indeed that intelligent 
 men should call in question the advisability of trades' unions or 
 associated efforts of any kind. Why was it that the associated 
 efforts of working men were now questioned, while those of other 
 classes of the community were never for a moment called in question ? 
 He need not be told that strikes were an evil ; that must be ad- 
 mitted, and by none more readily than by the working men. But 
 they were rather an excrescence growing out of the ill-organized or 
 imperfect union that existed among working men. It was said by 
 a gentleman present, that in some departments of trade there was 
 not a sufficient supply of hands to be got. He would like to know 
 what amount of wages was paid. The present state of society 
 was such, that there were more men in every department of labour 
 than there was labour for, and men had consequently to go idle. 
 To illustrate that principle ■ there were one hundred men to employ, 
 and there were only ninety required by the employers. Now, if 
 these one hundred men were scattered over the country, and there 
 was no combination amongst them — the master offered a certain 
 amount of wages- — the man and his family were starving, or were 
 likely to starve, if he did not get employment — and he was there- 
 fore driven to accept a less rate of wages than he would obtain 
 if there were a combination. There were ten men who could not 
 obtain employment — there being one hundred men and only ninety 
 required-^but if there were a union, the ten would be supported 
 by the ninety until they got work ; whereas if there were no union, 
 and each case had been a mere bargain between the employer and 
 the employed, they were obliged to accept the wages which were 
 offered without reference to the capacity of the workmen. 
 
 Mr. Maundee said he came from the south, where trades' unions 
 did not exist to the extent that they did here ; and notwithstanding 
 that, they got on very well without them : they did not stand still 
 with regard to the rate of wages, but continued to advance it. He had 
 heard many statements made since he came here, but many of them 
 were unsupported either by fact or argument. In one paper it was 
 stated that trades' unions had very much raised wages since 1846 ; 
 but they should remember that since that time wages had been going 
 up in every part of the country, and in order to establish that it was 
 trades' unions which had raised the rSte of wages, it would be neces- 
 sary to show that wages had gone up more where they existed than 
 where they did not. He did not think they could show that. He 
 had known the trade of Bradford for many years, and that trade had 
 been conducted without any unions ; but the fact was, that wages 
 were so satisfactory that people had come into Bradford from all the 
 neighbouring district, and he believed that at the present time the 
 wages of labour, particularly female labour, were higher there than 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 621 
 
 here (Grlasgow). He did not say that was caused by trades' unions, 
 but he begged most distinctly to state female labour in Scotland was 
 paid at a much lower rate than in the south. To compel an employer 
 to pay a uniform rate of wages was of course very unjust towards the 
 best workmen ; but the employer had also a right to complain inas- 
 much as it destroyed and prevented improvement in his workmen. 
 We were in competition with all the world, and it was most important 
 that the workmen should be the best that could possibly be got. 
 Some gentlemen had intimated that the members of trades' unions 
 did not overlook the great question of political economy as to supply 
 and demand. That was true to a certain extent, but the very attempt 
 to fix the wages was to assume an opinion rather than in any way to 
 test the market as it ought to be tested. Another gentleman (Mr. 
 Lloyd Jones) justified trades' unions on the ground that merchants in 
 London having, for instance, large quantities of sugar, combined to 
 keep up the market : that was quite right, if the trades' unions with- 
 drew surplus labour when there was a temporary depression, there 
 was no harm; but what he objected to was, that they adopted the ar- 
 bitrary principle of stopping all labour. In the south there was an 
 arrangement, when there was a temporary depression, that instead of 
 lowering wages they should limit the hours of work, and he thought 
 it was the best plan to adopt. (A voice : " That caused the London 
 strike.") Allow him to explain the difference : he was speaking of 
 the hours of labour being curtailed during the temporary depression 
 of trade ; in London, the attempt was to lower the rate of work per- 
 manently. The wages had increased where there were no trades' 
 unions simply in this way — ^the demand was greater than the supply; 
 if a person did not get sufficient remuneration he withdrew himself, 
 and obtained employment elsewhere ; and they had heard from Mr. 
 Ashworth and Mr. Bazley, that they found it a necessity, because 
 labour was in demand, to advance the wages of their men without 
 being pressed to do it ; and such must always be the consequence of 
 supply and demand. He thought, therefore, that they were attri- 
 buting too much to these trades' unions, and giving them credit for 
 that which ought to be attributed to other causes. 
 
 Mr. P. H. Eathbone said, that being secretary of this committee, 
 and having had perhaps as much to do with it as any one else, there 
 were certain points which he did not wish to pass without recording 
 his distinct opinion upon them. In the first place, in regard to piece 
 and day work and machinery there was not much said in the Report ; 
 but it must not be supposed on that account that the arguments in 
 favour of daywork in every trade were irrefragable. In difierent 
 trades piece and day work had difierent effects ; and where it was a 
 machine that did the work, a fixed rate for piecework might be as 
 unfair as in other trades a fixed rate for daywork. The next point 
 he wished to direct their attention to was one on which he hoped 
 they would excuse his speaking a few words to them. He had 
 noticed, for almost the first time, a very dangerous tendency which 
 seemed to be rising in these bodies, and he had found it perhaps 
 
622 An Account of the 
 
 more in Glasgow than in any other town ; it was the introduction of 
 that most dangerous of all matters, party politics. (No, no.) He 
 would give his authority : — they had constantly such discussions in 
 the Trades' Council of this city, which was, he presumed, a fair 
 representative, and a very admirable representative, of the trades' 
 unions of that city. 
 
 A Member. — I think the remarks of Mr. Rathbone can be easily 
 explained. 
 
 Mr. Rathbone. — However, I have seen reports of debates on the 
 Reform Bill in that Council ; and I do think I am not at all off the 
 card when I say that party politics have been introduced into the 
 Trades' Council. 
 
 A Member. — Not into trades' societies. 
 
 Mr. Rathbone. — I wish to express my earnest hope that such 
 topics will not be introduced into societies which are not established 
 for that purpose. He did not object to political societies among work- 
 ing men, but to the introduction of such questions into societies 
 which were established for other purposes. In the first place, it 
 introduces an element of discord, which, when there are already 
 quite sufB.cient elements of discord in every society, will do a 
 great deal of mischief to them. In the second place, there is one 
 thing which in this country has been most remarkable — great poli- 
 tical parties have always contained men of all ranks and all classes, 
 and it would be a great curse if anything should happen that 
 would divide parties horizontally, as it were, instead of perpen- 
 dicularly. I now pass to another subject — a subject in which I am 
 glad to see Glasgow is not involved — those most slanderous and 
 disgraceful imputations against females that appear in the balance- 
 sheets of Lancashire. I do not wish that this occasion should pass 
 without expressing on my own part my utter abhorrence of every- 
 thing that is so treacherous as the attempt to ruin the character of 
 women ; and I trust in the pluck of Lancashire brothers and fathers 
 that these things shall not go on. There is only one point more on 
 which I wish to express an opinion. I doubt whether much good 
 will come from the Council of Conciliation Bill, for I believe that for 
 arbitration to be effectual the arbitrators must be chosen there and 
 then, as the dispute arises, and be men who have the confidence of 
 both parties, instead of being chosen by any outward authority ; and 
 I believe no standing council can ever possess the confidence of 
 heated and contending parties. 
 
 Mr. Hughes, in reply, said he was more convinced than ever, that 
 the point he took in opening was the best point to take. He said it 
 was an unfair accusation to say that persons who believed as he did 
 ignored the laws of political economy. He admitted the doctrine of 
 supply and demand in its own place as much as any man ; but he 
 said when they came to the subject-matter of the living labour of 
 the living man, they would find that rule only partially applicable. 
 Other and higher laws had to be considered. He could not go into 
 that argument now, as there was no time for it ; there was flat 
 
Discussion at Glasgow. 623 
 
 assertion on the one side, that the doctrine of supply and demand 
 would hold, apply it never so rigorously to the subject-matter of 
 living labour; and he flatly asserted that it would not. And he 
 begged to say that his view was proving itself true more and more 
 day by day, and that the very fact that they were to-day discussing 
 this question, was another proof of its being so. Mr. Ashworth 
 Lad defied him to distinguish between labour and other articles. 
 He need not distinguish them, they would distinguish themselves ; 
 he said the living labour would distinguish itself by either helping 
 or hindering its employer, and cotton goods could not help and 
 could not hinder him. The importance of friendly feelings be- 
 tween masters and men had been dwelt on. Could there be friendly 
 feeling between a master and a bale of goods ? The attempt to apply 
 the law of supply and demand to human labour, as rigorously as to 
 cotton, coal, and mere commodities, had brought on in France the 
 French revolution ; in this country Luddite riots, chartists, and rick 
 burning ; and slavery in America. He was surprised at hearing Mr. 
 Lefevre and others still maintaining that there could be no arbitra- 
 tion as to wages. Why, Mr. Dunlop had in that room given them 
 a remarkable instance of the successful working of such an arbitra- 
 tion in his own trade, where he represented the masters, and the 
 men sent a deputation to confer as to rate of wages. At least, that 
 was all he, or he believed the committee, meant by arbitration. 
 
 The Chairman explained that the Eeport might be purchased by 
 those gentlemen who wished to possess it ; and that it only remained 
 for him to ask the meeting whether they would agree to the motion 
 for the receptidn of the Report. 
 
 The meeting unanimously resolved to receive the Eeport. 
 
 A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Eathbone as secretary, who, 
 in acknowledging the compliment, proposed a similar vote to the 
 chairman, which having been passed and acknowledged, the section 
 rose. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The following address, lists of questions, and circular were printed 
 and widely distributed by the Committee. 
 
 I. 
 
 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL 
 
 SCIENCE. 
 
 INAUGUEATED BY LORD BROUGHAM, OCTOBER 12, 1857. 
 
 One of the conditions on which England holds her present power and position 
 among nations is that of pre-eminence in the Industrial Arts, and her prosperity 
 Will always be proportionate to the prosperity, intelligence, and self-reliance of 
 her worldng class. 
 
 Any question, therefore, seriously affecting the laws of production and the 
 relations of labour and capital, must be of vital importance to every class of the 
 community. Consequently no body or person investigating the facts of social 
 science can safely overlook those extensive trades' organizations which exercise 
 so powerful an influence over the industry of this country. Hitherto they have 
 hardly received the attention which they deserve, e-wept from those who have 
 been too deeply interested in their operations, on one side or the other, to be alto- 
 gether impartial judges. 
 
 Few comparatively linow the extent and completeness of their machinery, the 
 large sums which they have at their disposal, and their manifold objects, often 
 attained with great elficiency. 
 
 Nothing, it is believed, has more hindered Trade Societies from being fairly 
 judged by the general public, than that secrecy formerly rendered unavoidable by 
 the mischievous action of the Combination Laws, and afterwards, in many cases, 
 continued, either through habit, or in consequence of the mistrust engendered by 
 those laws. Certain it is that some of the most influential of those bodies have 
 come to the conclusion that they have everything to gain and nothing to lose by 
 the fullest publicity. 
 
 At the Second Meeting of the Association at Liverpool, October, 1858, a Con- 
 ference was held on the subject, in which several working men took part. Reso- 
 lutions were passed, recommending the Council to appoint a Committee to inquire 
 into this subject. 
 
 In accordance with this recommendation, at a Meeting of the Council, held 
 Wednesday, 23rd February, 1859, Resolutions were unanimously carried, on the 
 motion of Dr. Farr, appointing a Committee for the pui-pose of reporting to the 
 Council of the Association, previous to its next meeting, upon the objects and 
 constitution of Trades' Societies, with their eifect upon wages and upon the industry 
 and commerce of the country. 
 
 Such is the Inquiry upon which we are engaged : it is one which cannot be 
 satisfactorily carried out without the co-operation of the working classes, and 
 especially of the Trades' Societies ; such co-operation, we are happy to say, has 
 in many instances been already heartily given. We have only to add, if the in- 
 quiry should tend to promote a more cordial feeling between employer and em- 
 ployed, or to indicate some method of avoiding those almost periodical cessations 
 from work called lock-outs and strikes, the Committee, for their part, will 
 consider their labours amply justified and fully repaid. 
 
Appendix. 625 
 
 The Inquiry will emtoace, among other branches of the subject— 
 The moral effects of Trades' Societies. 
 The class of men belonging to them. 
 Their effect upon the rate of wages. 
 Their effect upon the character and skill of the workmen. 
 The relation of the apprenticeship system to Trades' Societies. 
 Masters' combinations and their effects. 
 The effects of combinations on the prosperity of special trades. 
 Strikes : their causes and effects. 
 Statistics of Trade Societies. 
 Any information, in the shape of facts, statistics, &c., or any documents, 
 pamphlets, &o., bearing on the subject, will be most gratefully received ; and 
 may be addressed to either of the Secretaries, or any Member of the Committee. 
 3, Watekloo Place, Pall-Mall, S.W. 
 
 II. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOE, SECRETARIES, OFFICERS, OR MEMBERS OF 
 TRADE SOCIETIES. 
 Genilemen, 
 
 A Committee having been appointed by the National Association for 
 THE Pkomotion OF SociAL SCIENCE, foF the purpose of reporting upon the objects 
 and constitution of Trades' Societies, with their effects upon Wages and upon 
 the Industry and Commerce of the country, the following Questions have been 
 drawn up by them with a view of eliciting such information as is necessary for 
 the purposes of the inquiry. 
 
 The Committee, in putting these questions to the Trades' Societies, wish it to 
 be strictly understood that they are actuated by no vrish to pry needlessly into 
 the secrets of the Working Classes, nor by any spirit of unfairness either towards 
 them or their Employers. They believe that the collection and diffusion of cor- 
 rect information upon this important subject will tend to promote a more cordial 
 feeling between employers and employed, and may develop some method of 
 avoiding those periodical cessations from labour called Strikes or Lock-outs. It 
 is in this view that these questions are presented to you, and that questions of 
 a similar nature have been drawn up for circulation among employers who are 
 members of societies of masters or manufacturers. 
 
 We have only to add, that the questions have been drawn up after consulta- 
 tion with the representatives of one of the most influential Trade Societies. They 
 should be considered mainly as indicating the sort of information which we are 
 seeking for ; and we should be far from wishing to press any, the answering of 
 which, under the particular circumstances of your Society, might appear to you to 
 he prejudicial to its interests. 
 
 1. What do you consider to be the principal objects and advantages of Trade 
 Societies ? 
 
 2. How many members are there in your Society ? and what is your trade ? 
 
 3. What are the terms of membership ? (Where provided by printed Rules, 
 refer to No. of Rule.) 
 
 4. Is your Society associated vrith others belonging to the same trade in other 
 parts of the country ? If so, to what extent is it associated, in what town is the 
 central board or Society situated, and to what extent is the local Society bound by 
 the decisions of the central authority ? 
 
 5. Is the Society connected in any way with Societies of other trades m the 
 same or other towns ; and if so, how far does the connexion extend ? 
 
 6. Do yon consider that Trade Societies in any way tend to promote the efficiency 
 or to develop the sldll of workmen, to check inefficiency, and ensure work being 
 thoroughly done in a workmanlike manner ; if so, how ? 
 
 7. Do you consider that they tend in any way to raise or maintain the moral 
 character of the workmen; and if so, how? _ 
 
 8 Do you believe that the working man could secure a fair wage without the 
 instrumentality of Trade Societies ; and upon what grounds do you base your 
 opinion ? 
 
626 Appendix. 
 
 9. Do you consider that they tend to develop a healthy public opinion amongst > 
 the members, or in any way serve as an education in the art of self-government ? 
 
 10. Is there any rate of wages which is considered the lowest which any mem- 
 ber is expected to accept ; if so, what ? 
 
 11. Is there any general custom, understanding, or law of the Society, which 
 limits the horn's of labour ? 
 
 12. Does your Society insist on equal wages being paid to all members employed 
 on the same work at the same shop ? 
 
 13. What customs or laws are there with respect to workmen of one town 
 seeking work in another town ? 
 
 14. What, &c., with regard to workmen who are not members of the Society, 
 but who may seek employment from the same master ? 
 
 15. Are there any allowances to members upon tramp or seeking employment ; 
 and if so, what rules, customs, &o., are there with respect to such allowances ? 
 
 16. Has the Society any means of ascertaining whether work Is slack or brisk 
 in different parts of the country ? 
 
 17. Is the Trade Society connected with any Benefit Society? 
 
 18. If so, upon what tables are the allowances based, and under what conditions 
 are they granted ? 
 
 19. How are the funds of the Society collected? 
 
 20. What measures are taken for checking the accounts of the Society ? 
 
 21. Have those measures always been sufficient to secure a proper and eco- 
 nomical use of the funds of the Society ? 
 
 22. Do you consider that a benefit society connected with the Trade Societies 
 has any advantage over one not so connected ; and if so, in what way ? 
 
 23. How are the workmen in your trade paid — by the day or by the piece ? and 
 what is the present rate of wages ? 
 
 24. Is there any general custom, understanding, or law, tending to discourage 
 piecework ; and why ? 
 
 25. Or tending to control the work done by a man in a single day : either at 
 day or piecework ? 
 
 26. What general customs, understandings, or laws are there with regard to 
 apprentices ; and what is the usual term of apprenticeship requisite for admission 
 to the Society ? , 
 
 27. Are there any general customs or laws, &c., tending to control the descrip- 
 tion of work in which apprentices may be employed, or the rate of wages which 
 may be paid to them ; or the number of apprentices which may be employed by 
 one master in proportion to his journeymen, or otherwise ? 
 
 28. Will you describe what course, if any, is taken by the Society, when there 
 is a prospect of any alteration in the rate of wages ? 
 
 29. Have you any communications on the subject with the Masters or Masters' 
 Societies, or with other Trade Societies ? 
 
 30. Can you give any instances in which a general advance of wages has taken 
 place in your trade without the intervention of your Society ? 
 
 31. Do any of the officers of the Society devote all their time to the manage- 
 ment of its affairs ? 
 
 32. If so, what salaries do they receive ? 
 
 33. Would you object to furnish us with a balance-sheet, distinguishing benefit 
 from other expenses ? 
 
 34. What are the penalties for infringement of the laws of the Society ? (Refer 
 to Rules if you have any.) 
 
 35. Under what circumstances are members expelled the Trade Societies ; and 
 with whom does the power of expulsion rest ? 
 
 86. Do you think there is any room for improvement in the management of 
 Trade Societies generally ; if so, what improvements would you suggest ? 
 
 87. Are there any other points upon which you can give us information with 
 regard to the working of Trade Societies ? 
 
 38. Is there any combination of masters in your trade ; and can you give us 
 any information respecting them ? 
 
 39. What is the usual term of apprenticeship in your trade ? 
 
Appendix. 627 
 
 DOCTJMENTg TO BE OBTAINED. 
 
 * The printed or written constitution and bye-laws of any Trades' Societies or 
 Employers' Society in your district, or of any association of Societies. 
 
 Annual and occasional reports of the same. 
 
 A copy of any customs or laws, not printed. 
 
 Any statements, advertisements, pamphlets, defences, or other papers published 
 hy either masters or workmen during, or relating to, a strike or lock-out, or 
 relating to Trades' Societies or Employers' Associations. 
 
 Any newspaper giving reports or notices of trades' arbitrations, meetings, or 
 any other events arising out of, or in any way connected with. Trades' Societies 
 or Employers' Associations. 
 
 Any local pamphlets published upon the subject. 
 
 Any other local documents bearing upon the subject. 
 
 * It will be desirable to have in all cases the constitution, &c., of each Society 
 forming part of the Association, as well as of the Association itself. 
 
 ni. 
 
 QUESTIONS TO BE SUBMITTED TO EMPLOYERS OF LABOUR. 
 
 1. In what business are you engaged, and where is it carried on? 
 
 2. About how many men do you usually employ ? 
 
 3. In what manner are they paid, and what are the present rates of wages, dis- 
 tinguishing the different descriptions of labour, and whether it is paid by the 
 piece or by day work? 
 
 4. About what proportion of your workmen are members of Trade Societies? 
 
 5. Are the workmen who chiefly belong to, or are most active in. Trade Socie- 
 ties, drawn from the more highly paid and skilled class of workmen, or from 
 the unskilled and lower paid class? 
 
 6. Are all your workmen members of their respective Trades' Societies, or are 
 there only portions of them Unionists, and are the Unionists generally the cle- 
 verer or less ef^cient workmen? 
 
 6a. Are the directors of Unions generally among the cleverer and more intel- 
 ligent workmen of their trades or not ? 
 
 7. Have you ever been interfered with, or attempted to be interfered with, by 
 the Trade Societies, as to the wages you give your workmen ; if so, give a sketch 
 of the circumstances and result ? 
 
 8. What is the character of those who are not Society men, as compared with 
 those who are ? 
 
 9. Have you ever found that the being obliged by Trade Societies, or other- 
 wise, to pay a fixed rate of wages, necessitated your giving employment to the 
 men who would do the most work, of whatever character, and prevented your 
 giving the preference to steady sober men, but who were slow workers ; if so, can 
 you give any instances ? 
 
 10. Have you ever been prevented giving one man higher wages on account of 
 his greater value, because you would have been obliged to raise the wages of all 
 those workmen employed upon the same description of work ? 
 
 11. Have you ever found yourself fettered in employing men who did not 
 belong to the Society? . o ■ * 
 
 12. Have you found any difficulty in introducing piecework ? Has the Society 
 in your trade any general understanding, custom, or law, tending to discourage it ? 
 
 13. Have you ever found yourself prevented from introducing improved pro- 
 cesses of manufacture by Trade Societies, or by your workmen ? _ 
 
 14. Have your plans of business ever been interfered with in any way by 
 Trade Societies; if so, in what way? , -, , i, ,.. 
 
 15. Have Trade Societies, in your opinion, any tendency to develop a healthy 
 public opinion amongst the men ? . , ., 
 
 16. In your opinion could the workmen secure a fair rise m wages when it was 
 justly due and improperly withheld, without combination ; and if so, how ? 
 
 s s 
 
628 Appendix. 
 
 17. Is there any combmation of employers in your trade? 
 
 18. Is there any system of apprenticeship in your trade ; and if so, what is the 
 system ? 
 
 19. Have you ever been fettered with regard to the proportion of apprentices 
 you employed as compared with regular journeymen, or as to the description of 
 work the former may he employed upon ; and if so, in what way ? 
 
 20. What is your opinion concerning the general effect of apprenticeship, espe- 
 cially with regard to its relation towards Trade Societies? 
 
 21. What, in your opinion, has been the effect of Trade Societies upon wages ? 
 
 22. Can you give any instances in which a general advance of wages has taken 
 place in your trade, without the intervention of a Trade Society, or without a 
 strike or threat of strike ? 
 
 23. What, in your opinion, has been their effect upon the prosperity of your 
 trade? 
 
 24. What, in your opinion, has been their effect upon the character of the 
 workmen ? 
 
 25. What benefits do you consider to have arisen from Trade Societies ? 
 
 26. What evils, and if any, what remedies would you propose to apply? Can 
 you give us any information concerning the laws, regulations, customs, and action 
 of Trade Societies, or any facts respecting them, besides those already given ? 
 
 27 . Can you give us any information concerning the laws, customs, understand- 
 ings, or action, of the employers' combination, if any exist, or any facts relating 
 thereto ? 
 
 28. What is the usual term of apprenticeship ? 
 
 IV. 
 
 UUESTIONS KBLATING TO STRIKES TO BE PKOPOSED TO 
 EMPLOYERS' ASSOCIATIONS AND TRADE SOCIETIES. 
 
 1. Have strikes or lock-outs been frequent in your trade during the last ten 
 years ? 
 
 2. How long is it since there was a strike in your trade; and when did the 
 last strike or lock-out commence and terminate ? 
 
 3. What were the causes of the strike or lock-out? 
 
 4. What was the state of trade at the commencement of the strike or lock-out ; 
 was it brisk or languishing ? What was the rate of wages, distinguishing those 
 of each department of labour ? 
 
 5. What terms were proposed by the workmen or employers at the commence- 
 ment of the strike or lock-out, whether as to wages or conditions of laboiu- ? 
 
 6. Were any terms of compromise offered and rejected by either employers 
 or workmen during the continuance of the strike or look-out ; and if so, what 
 were they ? 
 
 7. What were the terms finally agreed upon ? 
 
 8. How were the workmen on strike or lock-out supported, whether by their 
 own Union alone, or did those of other trades contribute ; and if so, to what 
 extent ? 
 
 9. Were the employers whose men were on strike or look-out, supported by 
 their own or any other employers' association, or by individual employers ; and 
 to what extent ? 
 
 10. What were the allowances per diem made to those on strike or lock-out? 
 
 11. Were there any cases of intimidation during the strike or lock-out, or 
 after its termination ; either on the part of employers or men ? 
 
 12. Were new men introduced in consequence of the strike or look-out ; and if 
 so, was any effect produced thereby upon wages after the strike was concluded? 
 
 13. Did any workmen become employers in consequence of the strike or lock- 
 out ; and how have they succeeded ? 
 
 14. If new men were introduced, did they belong to the same trades in other 
 towns ; or did they come in from any and what other trades ? 
 
15. Did many of the new men remain permanently in the trade after the con- 
 clusion of the strike or lock-out ? 
 
 16. Were many of the men on strike permanently driven out of the trade by 
 the new comers ? 
 
 17. Were any employers' establishments permanently closed in consectuence of 
 the strike or lock-out ? 
 
 18. What was the general conduct of the workmen and employers during the 
 strike or lock-out ? 
 
 19. Was there any introduction of new machinery in consequence of the strike 
 or lock-out ; if so, what ? 
 
 20. Did the workmen strike, or the employers look-out of their own accord, or 
 were they directed to do so by any trade society or employers' association, or other 
 associated body ? 
 
 21. By whom was the strike or lock-out organized ? 
 
 22. Was the machinery for distributing allowances, and other general affairs 
 of the strike or lock-out, managed by any private committee, or any regularly 
 established trades' society or employers' association ? 
 
 23. Was the number of members of the trades' society or employers' association 
 increased or diminished during or after the strike in consequence thereof ? 
 
 24. Give your general opinion as to the causes and effects of the strike or lock- 
 out, and whether there wei-e any features peculiar to it. 
 
 3, Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, S.W., 
 London, 
 Sib, 
 
 There are few branches of Social Science of more importance than those which 
 concern the laws of production, and the relations of capital to labour ; especially 
 at a time when manufacturers abroad are yearly entering into a closer competition 
 with those at home. 
 
 When, therefore, the subject of Trade Societies was brought before the National 
 Association at their annual meeting in October, 1858, they immediately recognised 
 its importance, and a committee of inquiry was appointed, whose names will be 
 found above.* 
 
 Some of these societies undertake the management of incomes which are 
 reckoned by tens of thousands, and have branches in every important town 
 throughout the United Kingdom, and in one case at least in several of our colo- 
 nies. The machinery by which they test and enforce the opinion of the majority 
 of their members is most complete. 
 
 It is impossible safely longer to ignore their existence, possessing as they do 
 a power so thoroughly organized, and such extensive ramifications; and it is 
 believed that a rigidly impartial inquiry into their nature, constitution, and the 
 consequences of their action, cannot be ivithout beneficial results. The officers of 
 various- societies have shown a willingness to give the Committee the information 
 for which they have asked, as the following resolution, passed by the United 
 Trades' Council of Glasgow, representing about thirty -trades, will sufficiently 
 prove : — 
 
 " Resolved,— That we, the representatives of Trades' Unions in Glasgow andthe 
 West of Scotland, in council assembled, hail with delight the proposal of an im- 
 partial inquiry into the nature and tendency of Trades' Unions, as proposed by 
 the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, and resolve to recom- 
 mend to our constituencies to co-operate with the gentlemen who are engaged m 
 that inquiry by giving them information on this important subject. And be it 
 therefore ordained, that reports from the various societies be given into this coun- 
 cil, with all convenient speed, of their willingness to co-operate in,_or aversion to 
 the inquiry, that the same may be forwarded to the proper parties.' 
 
 * See the commencement of the volume. 
 
 ss2 
 
630 Appendix. 
 
 Other Trades' Societies throughout the country have shown equal readiness, 
 which the Committee hope will eventually extend to all. 
 
 It appears extremely desirable that those who are employers should give the 
 results of their experience with equal freedom, so that the report of the Committee 
 may fairly represent all the facts relating to this diiBcult question. 
 
 The Committee are anxious that it should be understood that their only object 
 is to conduct an impartial and scientific inquiry, and that they have no wish to 
 interfere in any way between Employer and Employed, considering, as they do, 
 that such interference would be quite beyond the proper province of the Associa- 
 tion, nor should they have even thought it necessary to disclaim the intention, had 
 not the fear of it been an objection actually raised to the working of this Com- 
 mittee. They enclose series of questions to which they would earnestly ask for 
 replies. These questions are necessarily drawn up in the most general terms, and 
 many of them are of course inapplicable to particular trades : there is also much 
 valuable information which it is difSoult to thi'ow into the form of question and 
 answer ; and the Committee therefore hope that whenever you may consider that 
 the questions are not so framed as to elicit all the information in your possession, 
 you will not confine yourself to simple replies, but will communicate any circum- 
 stances or facts which can throw any light upon the subject. The following are 
 perhaps the principal branches of the inquiry, viz. : — 
 The moral effects of Trades' Societies. 
 
 The class of men belonging to them and directing their operations. 
 Their effect upon the rate of wages. 
 Their effect upon the character and skill of the workmen. 
 Tlie relation of the apprenticeship system to Trades' Societies. 
 Halters' combinations, and their effects. 
 The effect of combinations on the prosperity of special trades. 
 Strikes : their causes and effects. 
 Statistics of Trade Societies. 
 That the Committee fully realize the difficulty and extent of the question is 
 proved by the fact that they are extending their inquiries over a space of two- 
 years, and that in their Report at Bradford they abstained from expressing any 
 opinion upon the subject until they should have examined it in all its bearings. 
 They are ready to spare no pains or trouble to make the information as full and 
 complete as possible, but all their exertions will be comparatively useless unless 
 they are cordially seconded by those who have information to give. 
 
 The next Meeting of the National Association will be at Glasgow ; and com- 
 bining as this city does, upon a large scale, all the characteristics of a manufac- 
 turing town and of a shipbuilding port, probably no better place could have 
 been chosen for a satisfactory discussion of a Keport of this kind. 
 
 If you can procure any printed documents relating to the subject we shall be 
 greatly obliged ; and we trust that, for the above reasons, we may fairly claim 
 your kind assistance. 
 
 We are, Six, 
 
 Yours obediently, 
 
 Thos. Hughes, 
 P. H. Rathbone. 
 
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. 
 
 REPORT, 
 (vii — xxi.) 
 
 Trade Unions — Information concerning, freely given, especially by operatives, 
 vii ; their objects and expedients, viii ; their effects in accordance with poli- 
 tical economy, so far as they equalize wages in the same trade, and secure a 
 fair market rate of wages, viii, ix ; necessaiy for this latter purpose ? Yes, 
 say all Trade Unions and some employers, x; their ^restraints upon employers, 
 some legitimate, others not ; every unnecessary restraint a suicidal jiolicy to 
 operatives, xi ; their difficult duty to ascertain the market rate of wages, xi ; 
 their liability to convert a minimum into a uniform rate, xii ; their conduct 
 of strikes, not always unsuccessful ; they prevent strikes, where the society is 
 well organized, xii — xiv ; connected with Benefit Societies, their advantages and 
 disadvantages, xiv ; their effect upon operatives as men, workmen, and mem- 
 bers of society, xv ; their treatment of non-society men, their responsibility 
 for trade outrages, xvi ; their Delegates, fair representatives of the working 
 class, xvi ; their general increase and improvement, xvii. 
 
 Conclusions of the Committee, xvii — xx ; variance as to the practicability of 
 Courts of Conciliation, xxi. 
 
 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE BOOT AND SHOE MAKERS* STRIKE 
 
 IN 1857-8-9. 
 
 (1-9.) 
 
 1857 — Closing Machines introduced ; not resisted in London, otherwise in the 
 Midland Counties, 1. November., Strike of Northamptonshire operatives (not 
 combined) against shops using machine-made tops, ineffectual, 2. 1858 — AprU, 
 Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Makers' Mutual Protection Society organized, 
 3 ; molestation of " scabs," 3 ; oppressive apprentice rules, the John Plummer 
 controversy, 4. October, Strike against shops employing " scabs," 5 ; Kettering 
 Branch secedes, 5. 1859 — February, Twenty principal shops of Northampton 
 adopt machinery, 5; General Strike, disapproved by other trades, 6; North- 
 ampton men start on tramp, but soon return, 6. April, Strike closes on an 
 advance being given for machine-made tops, 7. 
 
 New Machinery — Masters must adopt it, 7 ; present misery of men entailed by it, 
 how to be met ? by private thrift or by Benefit Societies ? 8 ; not by strikes, 8 ; 
 duty of all operatives to denounce strikes against machinery, 9. 
 
 WEST YORKSHIRE COAL-STRIKE AND LOCK-OUT OF 1858. 
 
 (11-51.) 
 
 ■Operatims— General character of, 23, 24; as a trade, unskilled? 13, 21, 22, 33, 
 34 ■ different kinds of, 13 ; paid by the piece, subject to deductions, 13 ; paid at 
 long intervals, 24; bye-lawa affecting, 31; mortality of, 14. Employers— '' A 
 colliery turns out a poor-house or a coach," 15 ; comparison of the cost of pro- 
 duction with selling price, 15—17 ; discrepancy of statements by masters and 
 men partly accounted for by the different scales of measurement, lb ; have 
 " corves grown as an oak-tree out of a sapling "?16. ,,,.-., 
 
 1854— 185^Miners not combined; Masters' Association, long established, secret, 
 20 25 26 • Mining Association of Great Britain, 20 ; striking average of esti- 
 mates by coal-proprietors, colliers, and a coal-dealer, prices had risen 62i per 
 cent mens- wages only 30 per cent., 18, 19 ; the men limit the "get to is. 
 Ber diem, 21 ; the limit not an economic heresy, 21—25. 
 
 1858— Over-production, 25. February, Notice of reduction by masters of 15 per 
 cent, on wages ; on existing or enhanced wages ? with or without explanation 
 
632 Analysis of Contents. 
 
 to the men ? 27 ; the reduction to be enforced by Lock-out, 26 ; the "West York- 
 shire Miners' Association organized ; their rules regulating wages, 29 ; Strikes 
 in detail, 29. September, Lock-out ; no re-emijloyment except at reduced terms 
 and under a declaration of abandonment of Union, 30, 31 ; masters' Bye-laws, 
 31 ; masters' Circular, 32 ; men's Plain Statement, 35 ; the complaint of men's 
 former refusal to work for stock, considered, 36, 87 ; repeated offers of arbitra- 
 tion made by men, refused by masters, 34 ; the Miners' Association of the 
 United Kingdom established, 34 ; its rules, 35. November, Miners' Conference, 
 35 ; compromise, masters withdrawing all conditions, men accepting a reduction 
 of 7 J per cent, on former wages, 37 ; soon getting rid of all reduction, 28 ; termi- 
 nation generally happy ; men employed during strike are dismissed, why, 38 ; 
 parallel Look-out in South Yorkshire, 38. 
 
 Results — Cost to the men may pay itself in three years, 39 ; moral effects good, 
 40; delegates misrepresented, 41. — Further proceedings of the Associations; 
 masters are forming a strike insurance fund, 41 ; the miners hold two con- 
 ferences, circulate questions, and petition Parliament, 42 ; praiseworthy objects 
 of the petition, 42 ; the Miners' Association of the United Kingdom replaced by 
 the Amalgamated Union, 42. Local Societies and their rules, Adwalton and 
 Drighlington, Lancashire and Cheshire, Barnsley, 43 ; the question of the 
 limitation of the hours of labour, 45. 
 
 Summary, 46, 47 ; petition of miners to Parliament, 47, 48. 
 
 STRIKE AND LOCK-OUT OF THE BUILDING TRADES IN 
 LONDON IN 1859-60. 
 (52-76). 
 Statistics of the building trade, 58 ; hours of labour and wages, 54. 
 
 THE STRIKE. 
 
 Cause — The nine hours' movement, 54 — 56. 
 
 History — 1859, July, Strike resolved upon, 59 ; five firms selected by lot, 59 ; 
 
 strike begins at Messrs. TroUope, 60; masters establish an Association, its 
 ^ rules, 65. August, Lock-out, condition of re-employment to make declaration 
 
 renouncing the Union, 65 ; Anti-Strike committee amongst the men, a failure, 
 
 67. September, Messrs. TroUope's yard re-opened, but the Declaration enforced, 
 
 68. November, Strike abandoned for the nine hours' movement, maintained 
 against the Declaration, and thereby legalized, 69. December, Lord St. 
 Leonards' proposal to substitute for the Declaration an epitome of the laws 
 concerning workmen, 69. 1860, February, The proposal accepted, 71, 72 ; the 
 nine hours' movement postponed, 72. 
 
 Conduct — ^By the men, some occasional violence, 68. 
 
 Statistics — Number of men on strike, 67 ; amount of relief, 73 ; balance-sheet of 
 
 conference, 73. 
 Effects — On families, 76 ; on the rate of mortality, 75. 
 
 PRINTERS' STRIKES AND TRADES' UNIONS SINCE JANUARY, 1845. 
 
 (77—92.) 
 
 National Typographical Association — Pounded in 1847, 77 ; thrives for three 
 years, 79, 80 ; then fails, why, 80, 81 ; its rules, 78—81. 
 
 Provincial Typographical Association — Founded in 1849, 81 ; its emigration scheme, 
 81, 82 ; cast in a suit for libel, 83 ; sixty-six strikes between 1849 and 1859, 
 their causes analyzed, 83 ; rules not always enforced, 82 ; " farming" a paper 
 prohibited, 84 ; type set up for one proprietor may not be used by another, 86 ; 
 hours and wages, 84, 85. _ 
 
Analysis of Contents. 633 
 
 THE LONDON CONSOLIDATED SOCIETY OF BOOKBINDERS. 
 
 (93—104.) 
 
 Rise and Growth of the Society— 1780, the convivial " Friends," 93 ; 1785, the 
 " Brothers," and the " City Brothers," 93 ; 1787, one Society, three lodges, 97 ; 
 1794, four lodges, 98 ; 1820, five lodges, and accounts printed, 99 ; 1828, 
 ai-ticles printed, 99 ; 1829, Bookbinders' Pension Society established, 99; 1837, 
 Asylum Society established, 99 ; 1840, the five lodges consolidated, 100 ; 1848, 
 secession of the would-be convivial " Forwarders" and " Finishers," and their 
 eventual combination with some members expelled for unretracted libels into 
 the society of the " Day -workers," 103 ; the Consolidated Society and the " Day- 
 workers " now friendly, though distinct, 104 ; present condition of bookbinders, 
 104 ; advantages of the Society, 104. 
 
 Transactions of the Society — In 1780, the hours of labour twelve and a half daily, 
 93 ; 1786, strike for a reduction of one hour, 94 ; masters lock-out, and are 
 supported by booksellers, 94, 95 ; prosecution of the men for conspiracy ; four, 
 rather than return to work, prefer imprisonment for two years, 96 ; the anni- 
 versary of the martyrs kept till 1827, 97, 98 ; the King is the first to grant the 
 hour, 97 ; the masters follow, 97 ; 1794, a second hour reduced by agreement 
 with a partial combination of masters, 97, 98 ; 1806, strike for a further reduc- 
 tion of half an hour, a failure, 98 ; the half hour afterwards gained, 98 ; 1811, 
 prosecution of masters for employing irregular apprentices, 98 ; 1826, strike 
 against reduction of wages by the Christian Knowledge Society, successful, 99 ; 
 1832, strike against British and Foreign Bible Society, 99 ; 1839, dispute about 
 apprentices, 99 ; employers lock-out, and threaten prosecutions ; booksellers side 
 with masters, small employers with men, 100 ; compromise, 100 f 1842, 1849, 
 disputes with British and Foreign Bible Society about wages, strike of unfairly 
 treated women, 101 ; dispute settled by controversy, 101 ; 1850, Bookbinders' 
 Circular established, 103. 
 
 STRIKE. AND LOOK-OUT OF THE FLINT GLASS MAKERS IN 
 
 1858-59. 
 
 (105—114.) 
 
 1858, November, Strike in two factories, about apprentices and uniform rate of 
 wages, 106 ; other masters co-operate with those struck against, 107 ; strikes 
 in detail against all those co-operating, 107 ; Masters' Association established, 
 its rules, 108 ; Lock-out throughout the United Kingdom ; declaration of re- 
 nouncing the Union to be the condition of re-employment, 109 ; Co-operative 
 Company projected by men, 110. 1859, January, Men offer a compromise ; 
 terms, rules to be qualified, declaration to be withdrawn, 110. April, Com- 
 promise accepted, lock-out closes, 113 ; cost of strike, how defrayed, 113. 
 
 TRADES' SOCIETIES' RULES. 
 
 (114—147.) 
 
 Unions either purely Trade Societies or Trade and Benefit Societies, 114 ; either 
 purely local or organized into branches, 115. Mules : of Masons, 116 ; Brick- 
 lavers 117 • House Carpenters, 117 ; Coachmakers, 118 ; Engineers, 119 ; omiths, 
 119 Steam-Enrine Makers, 121 ; Glass Makers, 121 ; Machine Printers, 122 ; 
 Plastoers 122 ; Bookbinders, 123 ; Coopers, 123 ; Printers, 124, 125; Seamen, 
 125-127 •' Lancashire Weavers, 128; Chain Makers, 129 ; Nottingham Lace 
 Makers 130 • Sheffield Saw Makers, 131 ; Railway Spring Makers, 131 ; 
 CoTentrV Fakory Weavers, 132; Morocco Leather Finishers of London, 
 iq9 TleroooZ-Upliolsterers, 132; Plumbers, 133: Painters, 137; Tailors, 
 ]l7 -pCSItTuI Glasffow-Tin Plate Workers, 133; Potters, 134; Cloth 
 LanUr^ 134 'coopers, if 4 ; Bakers, 134; Joiners 135 ; Slaters, 136; 
 English Potters, 135. jl/»iers— Lancashire, 138 ; Adwalton and Drighlmgton, 
 139 ; Barnsley, 140. 
 
634 Analysis of Contents. 
 
 Appendices — Tables showing contributions, allowances, and other particulars of 
 lifty-nine societies, 141 — 145. 
 
 STRIKE OF CHAIN MAKERS IN THE MIDLAND COUNTIES, 
 
 IN 1859-60. 
 
 (147— 1G8.) 
 
 Chain Makers in the North — A thriving trade, 147 ; their Journal, its value, 148 ; 
 their deputation to the South in 1859, 149. 
 
 Chain Makers in Midland Counties — Their hard condition, employment of women, 
 long hours, spurious chain, 149 ; occupation and wages, 152. Uistory of the 
 Trade — 1844, Wages low, Union established. Strikes in detail. Truck put down, 
 wages raised, 153 ; Union then falls oif and wages sink, 153. 1858, General dis- 
 satisfaction, 153. 1859, Strikes against tax for bellows cutting, and tax for car- 
 riage of iron, 151, 152. The general Strike o/1859 — July, Resolution of a general 
 meeting for a rise to the 5s. list, 154 ; notice given on behalf of the men by the 
 Secretary to the Union, 154 ; general strike, 154 ; the notice disputed, and men 
 summoned, 154 ; the sentence of the magistrates reviewed by the Court of 
 Queen's Bench, 155. August, Masters offer a 5s. list of their own, 155; 
 dispute as to the amount of existing wages, 155. September, Masters accept 
 the 5s. list unconditionally, two firms only require a fresh notice, the strike 
 closes, 156; conduct of the strike, party-feeling, bellows cutting, incendiarism, 
 156 ; cost of strike, 157 ; justification of strike, 158. 
 
 Appendices — Answers by a Chain Making Firm, 161 ; the " Chain Makers' 
 Journal," 163—168 ; rules of Chain Makers' Anti-Truck Society, 168. 
 
 LOCK-OUT OF ENGINEERS IN 1851-2. 
 (169—205.) 
 
 Amalgamated Society of Engineers — Founded 1850, 171; pledged against piece- 
 work and overtime, 171, 192 ; its rapid rise, 171 ; conducts strike in 1851, 170 — 
 187; survives it, and thrives, 187; has Colonial Branches, 186.; circulax-s of, 
 172, 173, 188, 199 ; finances of, 171, 186—188, 195. Customs of; irickets, 196 ; 
 collecting trade statistics, 194; no intimidation, 188. Rules of, as to appren- 
 tices, 193 ; piecework and overtime, 193, 194 ; secrets, 193 ; No rules as to 
 uniform wages, 178 ; against machinery, 188 ; against non-unionists, 188 : 
 Protest of, against strike of cotton-spinners, 203. 
 
 Strike and Lock-out in 1851-52 : 
 
 Causes — a. Grievances of piecework and overtime, pushed on by the country 
 delegates, whilst the Council holds back, 171 ; decreed to be abolished by 
 majority of 9000 votes to 16, 172. b. A contemporaneous strike at Oldham, to 
 displace labom'crs from mechanics' work, 175 ; discountenanced by Union, 175, 
 176 ; misrepresentations that the Union encouraged it, by " Amicus," 178 ; by 
 masters, 178, 192. 
 
 History — 1851, Nov. 24, Two notices insisting on no piecework, no systematic 
 overtime, double payment of exceptional overtime, and definition of overtime, 
 172, 173. Dec. 24, Masters' Association formed, and lock-out resolved upon, 
 181; offer of arbitration rejected by masters, 182. 1852, January 1st, strike, 
 182 ; Wth, Lock-out, 182 ; arbitration again rejected by masters, 184 ; lUh, 
 Declaration of abandonment of Union published as the condition of re-employ- 
 ment, 184 ; men start private work-shops, but fail, 184. February, Masters 
 open shops, but insist on the Declaration, 184. March 30, All compromise 
 rejected by masters. 1850, April, Men succumb, 186 ; most take the Decla- 
 ration falsely, others emigrate, and found colonial isranches, 186 ; Society 
 survives the lock-out, and flourishes, 187. 
 
 Conduct — By men, openly, 182 ; without intimidation, 184 ; with constant offers 
 of arbitration, 182, 184, 185 ; liberally to non-society men and labourers, 184. 
 By masters, silently, 182 ; uncompromisingly, 182, 184, 185 ; in a few cases 
 unjustifiably, 183. 
 
 Support— Bj private subscriptions, 183. 
 
 Cost, 186. 
 
Analysis of Contents. 635 
 
 •STRIKE AND LOCK-OUT IN THE COTTON TRADE AT PRESTON 
 
 IN 1853. 
 (207—263.) 
 
 Pr«s<on— -The first halting-place for the immigrant stream of labour from the fields 
 to the factories, 207 ; its trade disputes have always been imported from else- 
 where, and ended disastrously to the operatives, 208. 1836, Bolton Strike 
 infects Preston, 209 ; its failure at Preston, 209. 
 
 1847— Wages reduced 10 per cent., 209. 1853, Stockport recovers the 10 per 
 cent., 211. August, Agitation in Preston ; all mills but four give the advance ; 
 stnke at the four, 213 ; rash language of delegates ; strike at one firm, men 
 neither reasoning nor being reasoned with, 213 ; masters not driven to combine, 
 were combined before, 214. September 15ih, Masters' manifesto, resolution to 
 lock-out in support of the four firms, 214 : magistrates forbid public demon- 
 stration, 215 ; prosecutions for intimidation, commenced, abandoned, 216 ; 
 masters refuse to see Union Committees or to attend public meeting, 217. 
 October 16th, Lock-out of 18,000 men, 217. November 4th, Masters resolve to 
 withdraw the 10 per cent, whenever works re-open ; their charges against the 
 delegates, 218 ; men, with a view of conciliation, memorialize the Mayor, the 
 Home Secretary ; both in vain, 219 ; 16(A, Outrages on the masters at Black- 
 burn, 219 ; female delegates, 219 ; police forbid sale of songs in the street, 220 ; 
 support of the men by the amalgamated trades of London, 220. December Isf, 
 masters offer to receive applications for work at wages vrithout the 10 per cent., 
 220; no response, but would-be applicants have to be bought off; horrible 
 straits of operatives for food, 220 ; the Poor-Law Inspector would set the opera- 
 tives to dig, 'ill. 2Tth, masters' address explaining the strike, 222; mens" 
 counter-address, 224 ; the manufacturers of the Manchester market decree a 
 weekly levy of 5 per cent, on wages in support of the Preston masters, 227. 1854, 
 January, London Society of Arts offers mediation, is disregarded by masters, 
 229 ; one master compromises with his men, 230 ; 24^A, Delegates' manifesto, 
 showing prices are lower at Preston than elsewhere, 231 ; iSth, Men will send 
 no more deputations, but look to emigration, 232. February, 9iA, Mills re- 
 opened, wages without the advance, 2,500 men resume work, 233 ; the poor- 
 house closed to the rest, 233 ; 2Zrd, Masters import low Irish, 235 ; consequent 
 petition to Parliament by Preston householders for exemption from the poor- 
 law, 237. March 2nd, The Mayor reads the Riot Act ; his, manifesto, its mis- 
 statements, 237, 238 ; pacific proclamation of operatives, 238 ; monster Sunday 
 meeting of Preston sufferers and Bolton supporters half-way between the two 
 towns, 239 ; masters coerce a dissentient master, 240 ; ISth, Delegates suddenly 
 arrested for molestation, 240 ; extraordinary efforts of operatives' committee to 
 keep the peace, 241 ; the masters hurry on the trial, but the Judge postpones it, 
 243 ; the defence fund ; a common labourer walks into Preston and lays down 
 a sovereign, 243 ; the masters adjourn for three months, the men for six, 243. 
 April, Mediation Committee of the town present the compromise offered by the 
 men ; mediation declined by masters, 244 — 247 ; Stockport loses the 10 per 
 cent., and strikes to recover it, 247 ; Preston njen succumb ; George Cowell's 
 farewell speech, 248, 249. 
 
 The Balance-sheets, 249—263 ; receipts correct ; disbursements fair, but secret 
 service money (£692) disingenuously mis-stated, 251, 259 ; expense of agitation 
 Hi per cent.; leaders honest, but self-indulgent, 251; levies enforced by 
 addresses, threatening, scandalous, and poetical, 253 ; analysis of total income 
 during the strike, 260 — 263 ; of total expenditure, 263. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 
 
 (265—338.) 
 
 General Remarks, 265— 273. ^.^,^ ^ „„„ „ „,^ n, .,. t 
 
 Glasaow 273—296; Council of United Trades, 273; Coopers, 274; Cloth Lappers, 
 
 276 • Tailors their efforts against Sweaters and Pitshops, 278 ; Potters ; their 
 
 grievances iil ventilation, ill education, good-fr m-oven system, apprentices, 
 
 280 283 • Masons, 284, 286 ; Carpenters ; their numerous strikes ; a Masters' As- 
 
636 Analysis of Contents. 
 
 sociation, ita rules, 286 — 289 ; Printers ; strike to sustain wages for a year ; tlieir 
 dispute with gilders, 290—295 ; Bakers, 2%^.— Liverpool, 296—300 ; Joiners, 296 ; 
 Painters, 297 ; Ship- Joiners, 298 ; Tailors, a Union not self-supporting, and open 
 to masters, 299. — Miners, 300 — 315; Staffordshire, delegates a selfish class, 301 ; 
 the Mining Inspection Bill, 302 ; co-operative stores, 302 ; employment of 
 women, 302 ; the butty system, 303. Cheshire and Lancashire, Miners differ 
 in different districts, 304 ; delegates improved, 804 ; masters fair and unfair, 
 304; the "get" limited, 305. Scottish, the necessity of combination shown 
 by the history of the trade ? 307 ; picketing of pits, 308 ; weighing system, 
 309, 310 ; truck, 311, 312 ; Govan Colliery Free Labour Society, 312 ; the 
 character of delegates and masters disputed, 313, 314. — Bootmakers, crisis of the 
 trade, 320 ; the London Masters' Association does not reduce wages, but 
 employs no unionist, 320 ; strike at Blackburn against machinery, 321 — 324. 
 Coventry Weavers, the out - door weavers compete with manufactm-ers, and 
 support the factory operatives in strikes to establish a piecework system ; 
 unionists and non - unionists strike together, 324 — 328. Coventry Watch- 
 makers, trade depressed, no price list ; spurious manufacture ; truck, 329. 
 Coachmakers, 330. Masons in the North, National Association of Masters 
 organized into districts, 331 ; the "West Eiding Association of Masters has its 
 black list of operatives, 333 ; Trade Unions, comparison of Halifax rules ac- 
 cepted by masters, and Huddersfield rules rejected, 335. 1860, Strike for a 
 reduction of hours, the men's communications unsigned, 336, 337. 
 
 LEGISLATION" RELATING TO COMBINATIONS. 
 (339—350.) 
 Ancient laws against the labourer ; "the good statutes " fixing the maximum of 
 wages, 339, 840 ; combination prohibited first to builders, in 1549 to all trades, 
 341. Statutes in the reign of Elizabeth and James for the labourer; statute 
 of apprentices ; number of apprentices limited, hirings to be for not less than a 
 year; justices of the peace to fix wages at the Easter quarter sessions ; penal- 
 ties on masters giving, or men taking, higher than legal wages, and on men 
 refusing to work at the legal rate, 342, 348. The statute falls obsolete, but 
 strikes necessarily illegal, -343. Change of trade in the nineteenth century ; no 
 longer masters and a few permanent workmen, but capitalists with a number 
 of hands engaged at short hirings. Strikes frequent, 344. Statutes prohibit- 
 ing combination for particular trades, in 1800 for all trades, 345. 1824, Sta- 
 tute repealing Combination Laws, but imposing penalties on intimidation, 847. 
 1825, This statute repealed by another in the same spirit, 848 — 850. 
 
 PAELIAMENTAEY REPORT ON THE PROPOSED REPEAL OF THE 
 
 COMBINATION, LA"WS. 1824. 
 
 (351—872.) 
 
 Engineers and Machine Makers — How the masters rid themselves of the uniform 
 wage system, 351, 352. London Trades — Tailors, " Flints" and " Dungs", 353. 
 Printers, On good terms with employers, 853. Hatters, Number of apprentices 
 absolutely fixed ; "fair" shops and "foul" shops, 358, 354. Bootmakers, Abuse 
 by masters of Combination Laws, 854. Carpenters, 355. Glasgow Cotton-Wea- 
 vers, Appeal by men to ancient statutes for limiting apprentices and fixing wages, 
 opposed by masters, ordered by the Court of Session to go to the Judges of 
 Quarter Sessions ; their decree fixing wages, at last given, but only declaratory ; 
 strike in consequence, its peaceable character, its failure, 356. Glasgow Cotton- 
 Spinners, Their outrages, vitriol-throwing, woman-beating, attempts at assassi- 
 nation, 357. Lancashire Weavers, Men induced by their masters to meet, yet 
 prosecuted under the Combination Laws, 358, 359. Leeds Cloth- Workers, 859. 
 Knaresborotigh Linen-Weavers, 360. Macclesfield Silk-Workers, Cavalry im- 
 properly called in, 361. Liverpool Sawyers, Outrages, 361, 362. Stocking-Makers, 
 of Leicester, 1819, Successful strike supported by public subscriptions, 362; 
 1822 and 1828, Instigation by some masters of a strike against others, 362 ; of 
 Howick, Masters are prosecuted under Combination Laws ; men likewise, both to 
 
Analysis of Contents. 637 
 
 no purpose, 363. Birmingham Trades, Masters' combination impossible, as every 
 ?R? q«T* ?™ *'* " manufacturer ; strong union of men in the button trade, 
 aod, db4. Irish Woollen Manufacturers, How to return to work during a strike, all 
 uesu-ing, none daring ? the Chui-chwardens' advice, " Devil take the hindmost," 
 dbo. ingenious device of a panic by a master, 366. Duelin Trades— Carpenfers, 
 uutrages, 367—369. Coachmakers, Outrage, 369, Cabinet-Makers, Masters bail off 
 men prosecuted under Combination Laws ; send the bills of their men to be 
 taxed by the Union, 370. Calico Printers, 370. Saddlers, Prosecutions of both 
 masters and men under Combination Laws, 371 ; lock-out by regular masters of 
 men who proposed to work for an irregular one, 371. Shipwrights, Tailors, and 
 bilk_ Weavers, Wages fixed by magistrates in vain, 371, 372. Whipping, a legal 
 punishment for combination, 372. 
 
 PAELIAMENTARY REPORT ON THE EFFECT OF THE REPEAL OF 
 
 THE COMBINATION LAWS. 1825. 
 
 (373—384.) 
 
 Newcastle Collieries, Limitation of the vend, 373, 374. Coopers, 374—376. Paper 
 Makers, 376. Wakefield Cloth Trade, 377. Seamen, Their " Admiral-President" ; 
 their rules, a dialogue between Tom and Harry ; their strict regulations as to 
 mode of work, 378, 379. Yorkshire Weavers, No master can carry on trade with 
 non-unionists alone, 380, 381. Rochdale Flannel Weavers, The masters'subscribe 
 to strikes ; work by candle-light prohibited by the Union, at the suggestion of a 
 master, when the market was overstocked, 382. Scotch Collieries, Absence of 
 intimidation; apprentice fees from "neutral" men; men secure rise of wages, 
 not by striking, but by continuing to work, and thwarting their masters, 382, 383. 
 Scotch Weavers, 383. Scotch Calico Printers, 383. Glasgow Cotton-Spinners, 
 Their outrages ; their oath to " chastise knobs, to assassinate oppressive and 
 jjrannical masters, to demolish incorrigible shops," 383, 384. 
 
 PARLIAMENTARY REPORTS ON COMBINATIONS. 1838. 
 (387—431.) 
 
 Summary 387, 388. 
 
 Cotton- Spinners. A reduced scale of wages the consequence of the use of more 
 powerful machinery, 389 — 391 ; failures of general Strikes only encourage men 
 to enlarge their Unions, 392 ; the overstock of the trade, a necessaiy evil, 392 ; 
 the Factory Act impossible to be observed, a Ten Hours' Bill needed, 392, 393. 
 
 Manchester Cotton-Spinners, Their Union, 393. 1829, Large Machines in- 
 troduced, 393. March, Masters give short notice of Reduction, 394 ; Strike 
 of the Fine Spinners, they are for four months supported by the Coarse 
 Spinners, 394. September, Lock-out of the Coarse Spinners for supporting 
 them, 894 ; after six weeks more, the men succumb, 394 ; the leaders, their 
 devices to avoid and to conclude the strike, 894 ; conduct of the Strike, 395. ^ 
 
 Glasgow Cotton- Spinners — Masters' Secret Association, 396 ; Rules of Union, 397. 
 1836, Men gain an advance. 1837, Masters give short notice of withdrawing 
 the advance, the "men have no resource but to strike on the moment," 398, 399 ; 
 after a fortnight the men offer to accept the reduction, but masters now dictate 
 their own terms, viz. much heavier reductions, and a new scale of payment 
 according to the size of the machinery, 400 ; after four months the men yield, 
 399. Cost of Strike, 400. Violence during Strike, delegates arrested, their 
 defence, 401, 402. 
 
 Belfast Cotton-Spinners — No combination and lower wages, 402. 
 
 Belfast Calico Printers— Strike about apprentices ; establishment closed, 403. 
 
 Irish Printers— Tbeir Union ; conditions of employment, 404, 405. No general 
 Strikes and generally no violence, 405, 409 ; particular strikes, about appren- 
 tices, 405 ; about non-unionists, 408. A master secretly trains boys of the free 
 school, 409. Wages uniform, but fair, 407. .,« »t 
 
 DubUn Building JVaA^-" Regular " and "Irregular " Employers, 410. Irre- 
 cular" Employers use cheap labour and live by making the lowest tenders for 
 coarse public work, 410, 411 ; they alone complain, 412. Complaints : Piece- 
 work 411 uniform wage, 412; apprentices, 413. Violence, murderous and 
 
638 Analysis of Contents. 
 
 organized, 414 — 416 ; depression of trade, not to be attributed to tlie Union, 417. 
 Carpenters — Two Societies besides colts, 418 ; their rules objected to in detail by 
 regular masters, 419 — 423. Bricklayers — Two Societies, 424. Sawyers, 424. 
 Plasterers, 425. Painters, formerly two Societies, 426. Real rules and pre- 
 tended rules, 426. 
 Shipbuilders, Advantages of Dublin for shipbuilding, 429 ; but the trade all but 
 extinct, 429 ; the alleged causes, limits to apprenticeship and exorbitant uniform 
 wage, 429, 430. Canal Trade, Masters dare not dismiss their men. Com- 
 plete system of intimidation, 431. 
 
 WEAVERS' STRIKE AT PADIHAM, MARCH— OCTOBER, 1859. 
 (433—472.) 
 
 Blackburn prices, agreed upon by the two Associations of masters and men, form 
 the standard prices for the East Lancashire district, 433, 434 ; prices cannot be 
 ascertained without a complicated calculation founded on an inspection of the 
 looms, 434. At Padiham two co-operative concerns had failed, 436 ; in 1858 
 the East Lancashire Amalgamated Power-Loom Weavers' Association formed, 
 436 ; its rules, 437, 438. March, 1859, Padiham prices 12i per cent, below Black- 
 burn prices; men apply for an equalization, and, being refused, give notice, 439 ; 
 the masters call a meeting, and invite operatives, but cannot get a fair hearing, 
 440 ; offer by the masters of prices which they say are within 2i per cent, of 
 Blackburn prices ; was the difference justified by the local disadvantages of 
 Padiham ? 440 ; the offer made too late, yet improperly refused by the men, 
 441 ; 17th, strike. June, The masters of East Lancashire unite into a De- 
 fence Association, and support the Padiham masters, 443 ; circular and 
 letters of the Association, 444 — 448, answered by the Secretary to the Union, 
 448, 449. Difficulties in the settlement of the Strike, First, inspection of the looms, 
 necessary, 442 ; but refused by the masters to the Secretary of the Union, 
 unjustifiably, 442, 471 ; allowed by one master, who thereby was enabled to 
 resume work, 456 ; why did neither party, till after six months, propose an in- 
 spection by disinterested persons? 442. Second, the Unions: the men would 
 only deal through their executive, which executive the masters were bound by 
 their rules, though not under penalties, not to recognise, 445, 447 ; both parties 
 obstinate, 453 — 455 ; but for the masters there is some justification, 471. Third, 
 minor disputes ; picking healds, 452 ; charge for gold bobbins, 451 — 453 ; irregu- 
 larity of the size of the emery beams, 450 ; unfriendly relations between 
 masters and men, 436, 439, 453. — The Committee of Conciliation of five trades- 
 men of the town, 453, meet with suspicion, 454, 456, and do not succeed. One 
 employer settles witli his men, who find his prices are the Blackburn prices, 
 451. August, The Blackburn masters Intervene, inspect the Padiham looms, 
 and report that the offer of the Padiham masters, which professed to be 2J less 
 than Blackburn prices, was really equal to them, 458 — 461. September, The Padi- 
 ham operatives object to the report, 461, are allowed to verify it, 462 ; eventu- 
 ally are compelled to submit by Blackburn and other contributors to the Union, 
 462, 463. October, Work resumed, 464. 
 
 Statistics of Strike, 443; Balance-sheet, 464, 465; the cost of collecting and distri- 
 buting funds, 19 per cent., 466 ; delegates were paid too highly, and prolonged 
 the dispute, 466, 467 ; the i-easons why the operatives let themselves be misled, 
 468, 469. Intimidation, 472 : by picketing mills, 447, 456 ; by threats of 
 scandal, 447, 457. 
 
 Trade Unions — The larger, the less dangerous, 469 ; useful and necessary to en- 
 force the law of supply and demand, 470 ; should not seek uniformity of 
 prices, 469, 470; should remember that strikes jeopardize the whole trade, 
 470. 
 
 SPINNERS' STRIKE AT ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE IN 1830. 
 
 (473—478.) 
 
 1830, Strike to secure 4s. 2d. per 1000 hanks of No. 40 ; offer by masters of 
 3s. Qd., or average prices of district, in proportion to the number of spindles, 
 
Analysis of Contents. 639 
 
 refasal by men, 474; the men supported by "the National Association" and 
 me t^lasgow Spmners, 475, 476; their claims urged by "The Voice of the 
 J:;eople, 479. The men submit, 475. Murderous outrages, 476, 477. Conclu- 
 sions, 477. 
 
 SHIPWRIGHTS. 
 
 LIVERPOOL SHIPWRIGHTS. 
 
 Associations in this Trade ancient, both of masters and men, 479 ; formerly 
 Liverpool Shipbuilding more important relatively than now, 480 ; the Union, 
 though nominally only a benefit society, most powerful ; resisted the press- 
 gang, carried elections, dictated to masters, defied the police, 480, 481. 1817, 
 Piecework prohibited, 481 ; a shipbuilder offending against the rule, half ruined, 
 and compelled by his creditors to apologize to the trade, 481 ; outrages against 
 non-unionists, 482. 1823, Master Shipwi-ights reorganize their Association, 
 482 ; protect non-unionist sawyers, 482 ; resolve to employ no men who work 
 in "pitohpot" yards, 483. 1824, Formal correspondence between the Associa- 
 tions of masters and men. Complaints of masters against rules and practices, 
 limiting the amount of a day's work, 484 ; requiring ten men to load blocks, 
 484 ; against non-unionists, 484 ; against the proper discharge of men, 485 ; 
 controlling the selection of foremen, 485. The shipwrights answer seriatim, 485 — 
 488; complain of payment in public-houses, 488; and of the lax practice as to 
 apprentices, 488 ; ask for notice before change of wages, 487 ; and for recognition 
 of overtime, 488. Masters reply seriatim, 488 — 490 ; repudiate any intention to 
 take contract work, 489. — Men refuse to work for a new firm without leave of 
 the Masters' Association, 491. 1825, Shipowners applied to, by shipwrights for 
 an advance of wages from is. 6d. to 5s., by masters to pay wages for repairs, 
 491 ; wages rise to 5s., 492. 1826, Strike upon a proposed reduction of wages 
 to 4s., 492 ; masters resolve to employ no unionist, 492 ; soldiers called in to 
 prevent violence, 493; compromise for 4s. 6d. per diem, 493. 1834, Appren- 
 tices jointly prosecuted by masters, 494. 1836, Trade Unions broken up by mas- 
 ters insisting on a declaration, 494. 1839, Wages rise to 5s., 495 ; riots about 
 non-unionists ; some shipwrights committed, 495. 1844, The existing Uniott 
 established, 495; machine-punched copper objected to, 496. 1844-50, The 
 chief trouble the refusal of Liverpool shipwrights to work with those who have 
 served their apprenticeship elsewhere, 496, 497. 1846, For this latter class 
 National Shipwrights' Friendly Society established, 496. 1848, Foremen's Club 
 formed, 497 . 1850, Committee appointed by the Town Council to examine into the 
 trade, 497. 1852, The " sheet-rules," as revised by a sub-committee of masters 
 and men, 498—500. 1853, Apprentices' Association formed, 500. 1857, United 
 Kingdom Amalgamated Society of Shipwrights formed to comprise all ship- 
 wrights ; their rules, 500—502 ; the Liverpool Club secedes, 502. 1860, Present 
 state of the trade; evidence of men; evidence of masters, that Society to a 
 small extent resists machinery, has kept up wages, is beneficial, 504. Statistics 
 of the trade from 1820 to 1860, 505. 
 
 SHIPWKIGHTS OF THE TTNE. 
 (505—511.) 
 
 Evidence before the Parliamentary Committee of 1825— South Shields, 1823, Strike 
 for dismissal of men for insufficient work, 506. 1824, Lock-out of unionists on 
 dispute about apprentices ; compromise, 506 ; Rules of masters to lock-out in case 
 of dispute, and not to employ a dismissed man, 506 ; all shipwrights members 
 of Union • all members necessarily apprenticed, 506 ; Newcastle Umon did not 
 support men who refused masters' wages, 506. Fresent state of trade. Rules and 
 opinions of Newcastle-upon-Tyne shipwrights, as to non-umomsts; as to ship- 
 ioiners; overtime; apprentices; limitation of a day's work ; minute conditions 
 of labour 508—510 ■ strikes common ; last strike in 1859, successful, but with 
 intimidation, 610. 1851, Master shipbuilders of the Tyne draw up rules by 
 which alone they shall be governed, 510, 511. 
 
640 Analysis of Contents. 
 
 SHIPWRIG*3 or THE WEAR. 
 
 (512—517.) 
 
 Employer's evidence. Union unnecessary and injurious to trade, chiefly in its 
 rules as to uniform wage and apprentices ; but without its intervention no 
 general rise of wages has taken place, 512. From Sunderland Times, Decrease of 
 Sunderland trade shown and attributed to strikes, 512, 513. From Mr . PringW s 
 pamphlet. Improper rules as to the use of unskilled labour, and extortionate 
 demands ; rather than desert their Union the men refused a promise of constant 
 employment, 514, 515. From the Operative Shipwrights' defence. By Union, wages 
 have increased, and shipbuilding improved in quality, 515 — 517. 
 
 DUBLIN SHIPWEIQHTS. 
 
 Evidence before Parliamentary Committee, 1838 — The Union had driven the trade 
 away from the town, 517. 
 
 BRISTOL SHIPWRIGHTS. 
 
 Evidence before Parliamentary Committee, 1825 — The Bristol shipwrights bought off 
 and sent back shipwrights imported during a strike from Plymouth ; enforced a 
 monopoly by intimidation, 517. 
 
 LONDON SHIPWRIGHTS. 
 
 Evidence before Parliamentary Committee, 1825' — 1802, Strike for six months as to 
 the right of the operatives on contract work to select those who should be em- 
 ployed, 517, 518 ; disputes as to uniform wage ; as to apprentices, 519 ; charge 
 of oppression against the Union, 520. 
 
 TRADE COMBINATIONS IN SHEFFIELD. 
 (521—585.) 
 
 Sheffield, its monopoly of steel' goods ; Hallamahire, its water-power and quar- 
 ries, 521. 
 
 1590 — The ordinances of the Fellowship of Cutlers, the prototype of Trade 
 Union rules, 522; the object, the "relief of the porer sorte;" rules as to com- 
 pulsory holidays and apprentices, 523. 1624, Act giving incorporation and 
 monopoly to cutlers of Hallamshire, 524. 1791, Act amended, slight relaxa- 
 tion of rule as to apprentices, 524. 1787, Strike against making thirteen knives 
 to the dozen, 525. 1790, Grinders committed for refusing to complete work at 
 reduced wages, 526. 1791, Resolution of masters to prosecute members of com- 
 binations ; Scissor Smiths' Benefit (Trade) Society formed, 526. 1796, Strike 
 of cutlers for advance, 526. 1809, Combinations of men and counter combina- 
 tions of masters, 527. 1810, Masters subscribe to put down combinations, 527 ; 
 the " Statement " prices of 1810 established as a compromise, 528. 1814, Advance 
 demanded ; Sheffield Mercantile and Manufacturing Union established, the 
 last combination of masters, and a failure ; its oppressive trade rules fixing 
 prices, &c., its tremendous penalties, 528, 529 ; Hallamshire monopoly and re- 
 strictions as to apprentices, removed by Act, henceforward secured by Trade 
 Unions, 529, 530. 
 
 A Sheffield wheel as contrasted with a factory : the master finds material only, 
 the man finds machinery, and fixes his own hours, 530 ; small cost of tools ; 
 home labour practicable, 531 ; operatives sometimes hired for a term of years, 
 531. " Little Masters," find their own materials and sell to "factors ;" their goods 
 inferior, and often bear forged trade-marks ; their position generally below that 
 of operatives, 532, 533. Apprentices bound to journeymen ; their position, 533. 
 Social consequences of labour at home; viz. multiplication of electors; chastity of 
 women ; employment of women and children, 534. Sheflield drunkenness, 534. 
 Approximation of the two classes; the operatives independent and of a high 
 type ; the masters driving an unspeculative trade, rarely very rich, rarely insol- 
 vent, join trade unions against factors and little masters; not themselves 
 combined ; dependent on workmen ; lock-outa rare, 534, 535. 
 
Analysis of Contents. 641 
 
 1814, Advance of wages, 536. 1820, Depression : Trade Union formed of masters 
 and men to keep up wages, 536. 1828 and 1830, Proposals to renew this Union, 
 but declined by masters on politico-economical grounds, 536—538. 1831, Trade 
 revives, then sinks till 1833, 538. 1833, Formation of Freemen's Society of opera- 
 tives and " little masters" to procure re-enactment of restrictive clauses, 588. 1833 
 —1836, Prosperity, 538. 1837—1842 ; Great depression : amount of relief, under 
 the poor-laws and from the Trade Unions, 538—540; Sheffield Union refuses 
 to join in political agitation of other trades, 538, 541, 543 ; but trade outrages 
 frequent, 541, 542. 184.3, Suggestion by Board of Guardians for masters to employ 
 as many men as possible at however low wages, 541 ; address of Trade Societies' 
 Committee attributing distress to machinery and too cheap goods, and proposing 
 imion of all Sheffield trades, and of both masters and men, and purchase of 
 land for spade-cultivation by the unemployed, 542, 543. 1844, Outrages increase: 
 formation of the " Sheffield Manufacturers and Tradesmen Protection Society" 
 to indemnify sufferers, 543 ; protest by Trade Unions against the charges of 
 instigating violence, 544. 1845, Public discussion between Trade Union 
 Committee and the member for the borough on behalf of the masters, 544 ; 
 instances of the beneficial effect of Union rules as to limitation of numbers and 
 short-time system, 545. 1846, Complaints of the Trade Union against the pro- 
 ceedings of the Protection Society, 546 ; joint committee formed of masters and 
 men to investigate outrages, sits for a year, but without success, 546. 
 
 File Trade — 1829, Strike against reduction, compromise, 547. 1830, Union rules 
 prohibiting parochial relief, and imposing on defaulters such " punishment as 
 the trade should think proper" : " saw-webbing" the consequence, 547, 548. 1836 ; 
 Demand of men for a rise, counter-demand of masters for removal of restric- 
 tions as to apprentices ; strike and lock-out ; public subscriptions on both sides ; 
 compromise, 548 — 552. 1846, Advance, 552. 1848, Distress, but parochial relief 
 superseded, 552. 1853, Advance enforced and expenses of men also, 553 ; bonus 
 divided amongst members, 553. 1854, Advance, but permanent relaxation as 
 to apprentices established, 553, 554. Women nominally excluded from men's 
 work, 555. Organization of the Filesmiths' Union, 555 — 557. Trade outrages, 
 557, 558. 
 
 Penknife Grinders; never united or prosperous for long, 558. 1842, Overwhelmed 
 with arrears of rent for wheel-room ; the cause of distress being the spurious 
 manufacture of " crashers," 559, 560 ; their short lives, 562 ; their repeated 
 efforts to combine, 560, 562, 563 ; cannot combine because the trade must breed 
 " little masters," 564. 
 
 List of Sheffield trades, those in union, those not in union, 565. 
 
 Association of Organized Tmdes in Sheffield, established in 1859, 566 ; in all cases 
 endeavours to prevent Strikes ; if that fails, endorses the Strike and circulates 
 appeals to the trades, but does not itself contribute, 566—568 ; recommends 
 Courts of Conciliation to be compulsory, and to be established for each town, 
 not for each trade, 568, 569. 
 
 TahU-Knife Trade, forgers, grinders, hafters, 570—574. Hafters, 1844—1847, Pros- 
 perity • Union strong ■ the town divided into districts ; bills of the accumula- 
 tions of past reductions enforced by Strikes, 571. 1847, Distress and dissolution 
 of the Society, 571; their present hard condition, 572; their dispute with the 
 grinders who being more united have compelled a return to former prices, 
 572—574 Railwmj Spring Makers : united in 1857 ; three Strikes in the last 
 ten years ■ present relations cordial, 574^576. Scissors Trade : Union virtually 
 non-existent, yet the trade has not suffered, 576, 577. Sickle Forgers and 
 Grinders : Their successful strike in 1858 for an advance, 577. Fde Qnnders: 
 Unionists are better off than non-unionists, 578. Trade Outrages : instances of ; 
 rattening; explosions; causes-against men, default of payment or refusal to jom 
 the Union- against masters, employment of non-umomsts, or too many ap- 
 nrentices or machinery, 578-582 ; these outrages instigated and even organized 
 ZXevZ^ fsS Oommmicaiionfrom the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce : 
 TTiiinni^ts Muerally better than non-unionists, but umons prevent inventions 
 i^TadfeslecSlly of machinery, and provoke foreign competition, 583-585. 
 
642 Analysis of Contents. 
 
 LEGISLATION AFFECTING LABOUR IN FRANCE. 
 
 (587—593.) 
 
 Compagnonnage, or universal tramp-system, 588. Pmd'hommes with appeal to 
 the Tribunal du Commerce, settle trade disputes ; the representatives of mas- 
 ters and men formerly mutually, now separately elected ; the president formerly 
 elected, now an Imperial nominee ; the judgments of late favour the work- 
 men, 588, 589. Hours of labour reduced in 1848 ; afterwards raised to twelve 
 per diem, 590 ; Laws as to employment of children, 590 ; laws as to appren- 
 tices, 591 ; LivTtt, or the industrial passport, 592. Strikes and all combi- 
 nations prohibited ; but masters allowed to meet in " chambres d'entrepren- 
 neurs," 593. 
 
 THE DISCUSSION AT GLASGOW, SEPTEMBER 27th, 1860. 
 
 THE RT. HON. SIR d. P^KINGTON, BART., M.P., PKESIMNG. 
 
 (595—623.) 
 
 Paper read on the previous day by Mr. Potter (manufacturer) . Labour is a mere 
 commodity, the bargain for it to be settled by competition. The bargaining 
 labourer is helpless only because he does not save ; he is unfit to be copartner 
 with the master. Trade Unions are fallacies, they cannot raise wages, they only 
 destroy individual effort and invention, 595 — 597. — Mr. T. Hughes (barrister) 
 moved the Report be received. The one point of difference is, " Is laboiu: a 
 mere commodity?" Delegates are not common agitators. Trade tribunals 
 are possible, 598 — 600. — Sir A. Alison (Sheriff of Lanarkshire) contrasted the 
 views of men and masters about Trade Unions, and spoke of Strikes, their 
 awful cost, past outrages, and present improvement in the conduct of them, 
 600 — 602. — Mr. E. Potter (manufacturer) ; Laboiu' is a commodity, combinations 
 of any kind are wrong : interference by arbitrators between master and man is 
 objectionable, 603. — Mr. Hadfield, M.P., in reference to the Report, repudiated 
 on behalf of the Sheflleld Trade Unions any complicity in trade outrages, 604. 
 — Mr. Hastings (barrister) ; Combination exists in professions, then why not in 
 trade? Unions are necessary, and, as a fact, prevent Strikes, 604, 605. — Mr. 
 Fawcett ; Laboiu: is a commodity, and by combination the labourer gets the best 
 price for his commodity, and becomes a copartner. Delegates have been mis- 
 represented, 605. — Mr. H. Ashworth (manufacturer) ; Why is labour Tiot a com- 
 modity ? Combinations are necessary both for master and man, but Trade Union 
 policy, especially the rule of uniform wages, is bad. Arbitrators are only 
 interferers, 606, 607. — Mr. Godfi-ey Lushington (barrister) ; Unions and their 
 rules are clumsy but necessary expedients to secure fair play : masters would 
 gain by substituting for them Com-ts of Conciliation, 607, 608. — Mr. Fergus ; 
 Lanarkshire engineers have suffered from the system of overtime, 608. — Mr. 
 Lloyd Jones ; Why should not sellers of labour, like sellers of other commodities, 
 combine to fix prices ? But labour is something more than a commodity. Ai-- 
 bitration is expedient, 609. — Mr. G. Lefevre (barrister) ; The price of labour 
 depends upon supply and demand. Unions are necessary ; they have improved ' 
 in their character, 610. — Mr. F. H. Hill, B.A., showed that the charge in the 
 Report against Sheffield Unions was not without foundation, 610. — Mr. A. 
 Campbell, defended the Glasgow Cotton-spinners of 1837, 611. — Mr. Campbell 
 (delegate of the Glass Makers) , Trade Unions act on the principle of supply and 
 demand, and limit the supply, 611. — Mr. Dunning (operative bookbinder) ; Com- 
 bination alone secures a fair market price for the commodity of labour : arbi- 
 tration should be compulsory, 612, 613. — Mr. E. Ashworth (manufacturer) ; The 
 case of domestic servants shows that without combination wages will rise. 
 Combination cannot raise wages, is only a barrier between master and man, 
 613, 614. — Mr. Dunlop (Sx-Chairman of Master Cotton- Spinners of Glasgow); The 
 wages of cotton-spinners are settled amicably by conference between masters 
 and delegates, but would be the same, if there were no Union, 614. — Mr. J. H. 
 Cooper (representative of the Letter-press Printers) spoke as to the beneficial effects 
 of his own Trade Union 615. — Mr. Lindsay; Trade Unions should not exclude 
 
Analysis of Contents. 643 
 
 non-imionists ; but they enforce the market price, and no more : uniform rate is 
 a fair average rate. Arbitration by men of the same trade is practicable, 615, 
 616. — uVIr. Ludlow (barrister) justified Trades' Unions by extracts from Mr. 
 Potter' s_ paper. All associations should be registered : the market price of 
 labour is ascertainable ; therefore arbitration by a mixed court of employers 
 and men should supersede Strikes, which are remnants of barbarism, 617, 618. 
 — ^Mr. Pope ; Ai-bitfation is possible : it succeeds in the potteries, 618. — Mr. 
 Bazley, M.P. (manufacturer) endorsed the views of Mr. Potter. The increase 
 of capital, and not combination, has kept up wages, 619. — Mr. Scott; Combina- 
 tion prevents wages from falling. — Mr. Maunder ; The workman can do without 
 Unions, 620, 621. — Mr. P. H. Kathbone (underivriter) ; Unions should exclude 
 politics. Slanderous balance-sheets are to be reprobated by the working class, 
 622. — Mr. Hughes summed up. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I. — Addi-ess of the Trade Union Committee, 624. 
 
 II. — Questions submitted to Officers of Trade Societies, 625 — 627. 
 III. — Questions submitted to Employers of Labour, 627. 
 rv. — Questions relating to Strikes proposed to Employers' Aasociations and 
 Trade Societies, 628. 
 
 v. — ^Another Address, 629. 
 
 T X 
 
INDEX. 
 
 AccotraTS. Soc Balance- Sheets. 
 Aliment, To tJwse on strike, 141 — 145 ; also, 
 Builders, 7o; Carjienters, 287, 296; Chain 
 3Iakers, lo7 ; Cloth Lappers, 276 ; Cloth 
 Trade, 377 ; Coopers, 27.j ; Cotton-Spinners, 
 393,397; Enfjinc-ers, 1,S4; Glass Makers, 113 ; 
 Iron Founders, 317 ; Masons, 285 ; Miners, 
 29, 43 ; Painters, 293 ; Paper Makers, 376 ; 
 Potters, 281 ; Printei-s, 84—86 ; Shoe- 
 makers, 6; Tailors, 27S; Weavers, 443. To 
 the unemployed^ 141 — 145 ; also Printers, 80, 
 404; Sheffield, o.-io ; Pottei-s, 281. 
 Apprenticeship, principle i if, 413 ; evils of re- 
 striction, Builders, 428 ; Eusineers, 192 ; 
 Printers, 407 ; Sheffield, 554 ; Ship Buildei*s, 
 429. Evils of no reMridion, Builders, 334", 
 413, 414 ; Coopers, 27G ; Engineers, 193 ; Iron 
 Founders, 316; Masons, 334 ; Painters, 291; 
 Plasterers, 123 ; Potters, 283 ; Printers, 124, 
 405, 406 ; Seamen, 380 ; Watch-Makers, 329.— 
 EuLES OF Union Concerning ; (1) Restriction 
 as to number; absolutely. Builders, 414; 
 Cabinet-Makers, 369 ; Carpenters, 367, 419, 
 422, 423 ; Flannel Weavers, 381 ; Hatters, 
 353; Painters, 427; Printers, 70, 84,88,124, 
 125, 406; Sheffield, 023, 549, 550, 554, 558, 
 578 ; Ship Builders, 429 ; Shoemakers, 4, 355 ; 
 relatively, Bakers, 296; Bookhindei-s, 99 ; 
 Calico Printers, 403 ; Coachmakers, 118 ; 
 Enirincers, 193 ; Flat presscrs, 135 ; Glass 
 3Iakers, 105, 110, 111, 122 ; Mat_hine Makers, 
 318 ; Painters, 137 ; Paper Makers, 376 ; 
 Printers, 406; Saw Makers, 131; Slaters, 
 136 ; Shipwrights, 480, 488, 490, 491,499, 502, 
 504, 608. (2) Restriction as to age, of the 
 apprentice. Iron Founders, 318 ; Masons, 
 116 ; Sheffield, 578 ; Shipwrights, 501, 508 ; 
 Shoemakers, 4; of the journeyman. Chain 
 Makers, 168 ; Iron Founders, 318; Plasterers, 
 426 ; Sheffield, 554, 558, 578. (3) Indenture 
 necessary. Chain Makers, 168 ; Engineers, 
 193 ; Glass Makers, 121 ; Iron Founders, 318 ; 
 Masons, 116 ; Painters, 292, 297 ; Printers, 79, 
 84; Steam-Engine Makers, 121. {^) Rela- 
 tionship privileged, Buildei-s, 414; Carpen- 
 ters, 367 ; Coopers, 375 ; Cotton- Spinners, 
 397; Coachmakers, 118; Irish Woollen 
 Trade, 367; Masons, 116 ; Plasterers, 426. 
 (5) Premium requ ired to men , Calico 
 Printers, 403; Chain Makers, 168; Miners, 
 382 ; Shoemakers, 4. (6) Restriction a^ to 
 their work, Calico Printers, 403 ; Shipwrights, 
 480; see also 193, 271, 318. (7) Regulations 
 as to papt CariJenters, 421 ; Painters, 21)2 ; 
 Shipwrights, 508. Required for admission into 
 the Union, see Union, effect upon the skill of 
 the Workman ; reiuired by the masters, 
 Shipwrights, 494 ; required by Statute, 342 ; 
 in France, 591. — Usual term of, Ave years, 
 Bakers, 296 ; six years, Coopers, 276 ; Painters, 
 292 ; seven 3"ears, Calico Printers, 403 ; !J[a- 
 sons, 286 ; Painters, 298 ; Potters, 283. Usual 
 
 paumeni, Calico Printers, 403 ; Machine 
 3Iakers, 318 ; Masons, 286 ; Potters, 283 ; 
 Sawyers, 424. Miscellaneous particulars^ 
 Bakers, 295; Glass Makers, 104, 122; Ship- 
 wrights, 480, 488, 500, 510, 519. 
 
 Apprentices, "club," 414, 420, 421, 425; un- 
 steady to their masters, Potters, 283; Sliip- 
 wiights, 494 ; come from small shops, Coopers, 
 276; fi-om irregular masters, Builders, 413, 
 414; Printers, 406 ; from the countiy,l*rinters, 
 405 ; organized into a Union, Ship\\'rights, 
 500. 
 
 Arbitration; its practicahility considered, Keport, 
 xiv, xix, xxi, 272, Discussion, 596—620 ; Shefr 
 fleld, 568, 569 ; Shipwrights, 502, 512 ; Wea- 
 vers, 326, 328 ; required by rules of Union, 
 Cai'penters, 287 ; Compositors, 86 ; Miners 
 (Scottish), 306; Painters (Glasgow), 293 ; Pot- 
 tcrs,282; Tailoi-s (Glasgow), 279; Tailors (Liver- 
 pool), 138 ; offered by men and i-efusedby mas- 
 ters, before a strike, Cotton-Spinners, 216, do, 
 216, do. 217 ; Engineers, 182 ; Miners, 306 ; 
 during a Strike, Cotton- Spinners (Preston), 
 244, 247 ; Cotton- Spinners (Manchester) 394 ; 
 Engineers, 184 ; Miners, 34 ; offered by Mas- 
 ters and refused by men, during a strike, 
 Painters (Glasgow), 293 ;— settled Padiham 
 dispute, 459. 
 
 Bakers, Glasgow, 134, 295, 296. 
 
 Balance-Sheets, of Unions, Cai-penters (Glas- 
 gow), 2SS ; Cloth Lappers (Glasgow), 277; 
 Engineers, 188, 195 ; Masons (Glasgow), 
 284 ; Printei-s, 78—80, 404 ; Sheffield, 570 ; 
 Tailors (Glasgow), 278 ; Watch-Makers (Co- 
 ventry), 329; of Strikes, Builders, 73, 74; 
 Cotton-Spinners (Preston), 249—263; Cotton 
 Weavers (Padiham), 464—468. 
 
 Bellows Cutting, See Interference. 
 
 Benefit Society, as joined with Trade Union, 
 xiv, 88, 144. 
 
 Binningham Trades, 363, 364. 
 
 Black List, kept by Masters, Builders, 333 ; Glass 
 Makers, 106 ; Shoemakers, 321 ; kept by 
 Unions, see Interference. 
 
 Blackburn, 211, 219, 239, 433. 
 
 Bolton, 208. 
 
 Bookbinders, 93—104, 123. Sec 633. 
 
 Bricklayers, of London, join in the great Build- 
 ing Strike, 53—71, 632 ; esp. 54, 56, 67, 73, 
 117 ; of Dublin, 409—418, 423, 424. 
 
 Builders, of London, 53—71 ; sec 632 ; early 
 statutes against, 340 ; of Dublin, 409—418 
 
 Butty system, 303. 
 
 Cabinet-Makers, 369. 
 
 Calico Printers, of Belfast, 403 ; of Dublin, 370. 
 
 Canal Boatmen, of Dublin, 430. 
 
 Carpenters and Joiners, of London, 53—76, 632 ; 
 esp. 54, 56, 67, 73, 117, 355 ; of Glasgow, 135, 
 286 ; of Dublin, 367—369, 412, 418-^23. 
 
 Central Committee, See Union, Constitution of. 
 
Index. 
 
 645 
 
 Cham Maters, U7— 168. See G34. 
 
 Cheapness, effect of, Builders, 410; Sheffield, 
 S42 ; Potters, 283 ; Watoh-Makers, 329. 
 
 Choice of uirerutives denied to Masters by 
 ET"'.*""*^ Makers, 110, 113; Sheffield 
 644, SiiC ; Sawyers, 425. 
 
 Cloth Lappers (Glasgow), 134, 270 
 
 Cloth-Workers (Leeds), 359. 
 
 Cloth Trade (Wakefield), 377. 
 
 Ooachmakers, 118, 330, 369. 
 
 Coal. See Miners. 
 
 CoUision of Trades, Caipenters and Seamen, 
 379 ; Engineers and Cotton Machine Makers, 
 351 ; Gilders and Painters, 294 ; Shlpwi'ights 
 and Ship-Joiners, r,»2, .507. 
 
 Colonial branches of Union, Engineers, 186. 
 
 Combination Laws, xviii, 338—360, 636 ; eflect 
 of, 350—372, 630—638 ; enforced against men, 
 352—356, 359, 3IJ(), 31)3, 364, 309, 370, 526; 
 against masters. Carpenters, 355; Stocking- 
 Makers, 362 ; Saddlers, 371 ; Masters refuse 
 to enforce. Cloth- Workers, 369 ; Printers, 363. 
 See Union. 
 
 Commodity ; is Labour a mere commodity ? 
 
 Discussion, 595 — 023. 
 Competition, compels the use of machinery, 
 Bootmakers, 7 ; prevents masters from com- 
 bining, Sheffield, 635 ; Pottets, 281 ; leads to 
 multiplication of apprentices, Printers, 406 ; 
 Builders, 410 ; and to inferior work. Builders, 
 410 ; Potters, 283 ; Wateh-Makers, 329. 
 
 Conspiracy. See ComMnalion. 
 
 Contracts of masters taken advantage of by 
 
 men, Sheffield, 544 ; Shipwi-ights, 491. 
 Contract-work prohibited by Union, to men, 
 Masons, 2S5 ; Miners, 305 ; Paintei-s, 297 ; 
 Printers, 126 ; Ship-Joiners, 299 ; Ship- 
 wrights, 491, 503 ; to masters, Shipwriglits, 
 481, 486, 489. 
 Control over workmen denied to masters, 
 Shipwrights, 481, 487, 518 ; Canal Boatmen, 
 431. 
 Co-operation, Keport, xviii ; Engineers, 184 ; 
 Glass Makers,110, 121, 122 ; Cotton Weavers 
 and Spinners, Padiham, 436 ; Rochdale, 430 ; 
 Miners, 302, 306 ; Palntere, 294 ; Discussion, 
 616. 
 Coopers, Glasgow, 123, 134, 274—276 ; London, 
 
 374—370. 
 Cotton, Spinners, Glasgow, 355—358, 383, 
 384 ; Manchester, Glasgow, and Belfast, 389— 
 403 ; see 637 ; Preston, 207—263 ; see 033. 
 Wemei-s, Ashton, 472 — 478; Glasgow, 357; 
 Padiham, 433—472. See 038. 
 Countiy Work, extra wages lor. Painters, 
 Liverpool, 137 ; Glasgow, 291 ; Dublin, 428 ; 
 Plasterers, Liverpool, 138. 
 Coventiy Trades. See }Vatc?t-Makers, Weavers. 
 CoweU, Geori^e, the Preston agitator, 210 ; 
 an-ested, 240 ; his fai'ewell speech, 248. 
 
 Declaration, a^ to abandonment of Union, Boot- 
 makers, 320; Builders, 05; Engineers, 203; 
 Glass Makers, 109 ; Miners, 31 ; Shipwrights, 
 492 — 494, 600 ; as to particular matters, 
 Glass Makers, 112 ; Cotton-Spinners, 394. 
 
 Deductions from wages. Canal Trade, 430; 
 Chain Makei-s, 152; Cotton Weavers, 452, 
 453 ; Glass Makers, 122 ; Miners, 12, 13, 310. 
 
 Delegates, charges against, made or proved. 
 Chain Makers, 160, 167; Cotton-Spinners, 
 Glasgow, 401 ; Preston, 212, 214, 218, 240, 
 263 ; Cotton Weavers, Padiham, 407, 408 ; 
 Engineers, 178; Masons, 334; Miners, 33, 301, 
 305, 313, 314 ; denied or disproved, Keport, 
 xvi; Discussion, 699, 606; Cotton-Spinners, 
 Glasgow, 401 ; Manchester, 394 ; Preston, 238, 
 241 251, 253 ; Engineers, 187, 19S ; Miners, 
 40, 41, 304 ; sums actually paid to, Cotton-Spm- 
 
 ners, Glasgow, 397 ; Cotton Weavers, Padiham, 
 406 ; Sheffield, 578 ; Shoemakers, ; Printers, 
 404 ; Plasterers, 425. 
 
 Discussion at Glasgow, 596—623, 642. 
 
 Dismissal for connexion with Union, Buildera, 
 60 ; Carpenters, 287 ; Coopers, 276 ; Cotton- 
 Spinners, 396 ; Miners, 43. 
 
 District Branches. See Union, Constitution of. 
 
 Education, the subject of a petition to Parlia- 
 ment by Miners, 41, 309 ; want of, amongst 
 Potters, 282. 
 
 Emigration, Printers, 81, 88, 404 ; Engineers, 
 119 ; Cotton-Spiimers, 232. 
 
 Employment, rules of Union as to members 
 procuring employment, Bakers, 295 ; Car- 
 penters, 431 ; Coopers, 124 ; Engineers, 194 ; 
 Glass Makers, 122 ; Upholsterers, 132. 
 
 Engineers, 119, 169-205. See 351, 034. 
 
 Equalization of wages. See Wages. 
 
 Eactory, Act not observed, Cotton-Spinners, 
 392 ; workers compared with home workers. 
 Chain Makers, 152 ; as compared with a Shef- 
 field wheel, 530. 
 
 Fines, on men by masters. Chain Makers, 151 ; 
 Cotton-Spinners, 400 ; Ii-onfounders, 319 ; 
 Miners, 31, 32, 309, 310; in masters' Union 
 7-uIes, Cotton-Spinners, Preston, 215, 232 ; 
 Manchester, 394 ; Carpenters (Glasgow), 290 ; 
 Sheffield, 628. 
 
 Footings, abolished by Union, Coopers, 275 ; 
 Shipwrights, 501; their existence in mmes, 303. 
 
 Foremen, Association of. Shipwrights, 497; 
 controlled by Union, Clarpenters, 422, 423 ; 
 Shipwrights, 481, 485, 487, 490, 497, oil ; 
 Saddlers, 371 ; Spimiers, 357. 
 
 Gilders, dispute with Painters, 294. 
 
 Glasgow Trades. See Bakers. Carpenters, Cloth 
 Lappers, Coopers, Cotton-Spinners, Masons, 
 Painters, Ftumbers, Potters, Slaters, Tailors, 
 Tin Plate Workers. Coimcil of United Trades, 
 273 
 
 Glass' Makers, 104—114, 033. 
 
 Govan Collieiy Friendly Free Labom- Society, 
 312. 
 
 Govennnent, rough work done for. Builders, 410. 
 
 Guild of Cutlers, 522—524. 
 
 Hatters, 353. 
 
 Hiring, term of, minimum fixed by the Sta- 
 tute of Apprentices, 342 ; maximum fixed by 
 the Union rules, Bakers, 134 ; Coopers, 276 ; 
 Skaters, 137 ; Tin Plate Workers, 133 ; method 
 of, Sheffield, 631. 
 Holidays, Drunken Monday, Miners, 303, 304 ; 
 Monday morning, Silk- Workers, 361; Builders, 
 335 ; Tuesday afternoon, Sheffield, 623. 
 Home Secretary, appealed to both by masters 
 
 and men, Preston Lock-out, 219 
 Hoiu-s of labour, per week: — 
 57, Masons (Glasgow), 285 ; Painters (Glas 
 
 gow), 290. 
 67J, Masons (Bradford), 336. 
 59, Printers (England), 84, 125. 
 00, Scotch Printers, 87 ; Coopers, 276 ; Car- 
 penters, 297 ; Cloth Lappers, 276 ; Pamters, 
 298. 
 69, Cotton-Spinners, 393, 402. 
 per diem ; — 
 
 8, Miners, 45. ,. . , 
 
 10, Bookbinders, 98; Dabhn Printers, 88, 
 
 405 • Potters, 282 ; Ship-Joiners, 298. 
 104, London Prmters, 87 ; Carpenters, 420. 
 10|, Plasterers, 426. 
 
 12, Bakers, 136; Tailors (Glasgow), 279; 
 Liverpool, 137 ; in France, 690. 
 
646 
 
 Index. 
 
 Imported Labourers, Bakers, 295; Cotton-Spin- 
 ners, 234, et seq. ; Miners, 34, 307 ; SheiReld. 
 i551 ; Shipwrights, 491— 493, 500,515; their 
 inferior character. Miners, ;;4; Cotton-Spin- 
 ners, 234^237, 243; their treatment. Ship- 
 wrights, 4R1— -',15; Spinners, 2;J5; they leave 
 after a strike, 270 ; Miners, 3S ; Weavers, 397. 
 Information, generally given, Report, vii; re- 
 fused hy Amalgamated Ship^vi'ights' Society, 
 505; by master Engineers, 170; by Glass 
 Manufacturers, 105. 
 Interference, Illegal, Laws respecting, 69 — 71; 
 348 — S.'.O ; generally on the decline, Keport, 
 xvi, x\nii ; Coopers, 375 ; Cotton-Spinners of 
 Manchester, 395, 396 ; of Glasgow, 400—402, 
 Biscussion, (iOl ; of Preston, 23S— 241 ; Engi- 
 neers, 185, 188 ; Miners, 30, "3, SOS ; Seamen, 
 379; Stocking-Makers, 362 ; iruion is profes- 
 sedly opposed to it, Cotton-Spinners of Man- 
 chester, 395 ; of Preston, 241 ; Builders, 417 ; 
 Sheffield, 542 ; sometimes however druanizes 
 it, Builders (Dublin), 416 ; Sheffield, 583 ; and 
 is alwaj's responsible for it, 558 ; instances of, 
 a. Intimidation : 
 1. Against men, black lists, Coventrv Wea- 
 vers, 327; Chain Makers, 14S ; Coach- 
 makers, 117, 330; Hatters, 353; Masons, 
 117; Tailors, 2S0; picketinr/ mills, &c.. 
 Builders, 68 ; Cloth Trade, Wakefield, 077 ; 
 Cotton- Spinners, Glasgow, 357, 400, 401 ; 
 Manchester, 396 ; Cotton Weavers, Padi- 
 ham, 456; Miners, 30, 308; Shoemaker^., 
 3 ; scandalous threats, Cotton-Spimiers, 
 Preston, 2-13 ; Cotton Weavers, Padiham, 
 457, Discussion, 022 ; threats of violence. 
 Builders, 416; Cottou-Spinncrs, 232, 233, 
 241, 243; Printers, 409; Sheffield, 579, 
 &c. &c, 
 3. Against masters, Builders, 41G; Cotton- 
 Spinners, 357, 401 ; Coventry Weavers, 
 327; Printers, 409; Sheffield, -",79. 
 h. Actual outrage: 
 
 1. To propertv, bellows cut. Chain Makers, 
 151, 156, 162 ; "rattening," Sheffield, 541 ; 
 boats sunk, Dublin, 431 ; incendiarism 
 and explosions. Chain Makers, 1"6 ; Shef- 
 field, 521. 
 
 2. To men. Builders, 41-5, 416 ; Ciinien- 
 ters, 368, -369 ; Cotton-Spinners, Glasgow, 
 358, 383. 384, 401 ; Preston, 237 ; Coach- 
 makers, 369 ; Sawyers, 361, 362 ; Seji- 
 men, 379 ; Sheffield, 543, -548, 557, 579— 
 583 ; Shipwrights, 481, 482, 49-'.. 
 
 3. To masters, Carpenters, 368, 369; 
 Builders, 415, 416; Cotton-Spinners, Glas- 
 gow, 357 : Preston, 219 ; Sheffield, 557, 
 578— j83; Shipwrights, 415, 416. 
 
 Irish Trades. See Builders, Cabinet-Mal-ers, 
 Calico Printers, Canal Trade, Coachmnl-ers, 
 Cotton- Spinners^ Printers, Saddlers, Ship- 
 builders, Woollen Mamifactnrers. 
 
 Iron Founders, 316 — 320. 
 
 Ironmongers, 315—319. 
 
 Jobbing. See Coniract Wurk. 
 Joiners. See Carp 
 
 Knaresborpugh Linen Weavers, 360, 
 
 Lace Makers of Nottingham, 130. 
 
 Lancashire Weavers, 358. 
 
 Leeds Cloth- Workers, 359. 
 
 Legislation concerning Unions, 339 — 350; im- 
 provements in, as to legalizing Unions, xix, 
 xxi, 272, 273 ; as to courts of conciliation, 
 568, 569, Discussion, 595—623. 
 
 Leicaster Stocking-Makers, 302. 
 
 Libel, action against Union, Printers, 83. 
 
 Limit of the day's work, when payment is hj 
 
 the piece, Sliners, 21—24, 29, 269, SO.j, 306 ; 
 
 Iron Founders, 318 ; when payment is by the 
 
 day. Seamen, 128 ; ShipWighls, 484, 480, 
 
 498, 500, 508, 509. 
 Liverpool Trades. See Painters, Plasterers, 
 
 Plumbers, Sawyers, Shipwrights, Tailms. 
 Livret, 502. 
 Locjil restrictions as to operatives, enforced by 
 
 Union, Carpenters (Dublin), 419 ; Shefflelii, 
 
 -'.23 ; Ship-v\TighLs, 488, 489, 490, 492, 495, 496, 
 
 497, 499, 502, 515. 
 Lock-out, Bookbinders, 95; do. 100 ; Builders, 53 ; 
 
 Cotton- Spinners, 208, 217 ; Engineers, 169 ; 
 
 Glass Makers, 105 ; Miners, 11 ; Sheffield, 548. 
 London Trades, Bookbinders, 93 — 104 ; Builders, 
 
 53—76; Engineers, 168 — 205; Printers, 76 — 
 
 87 ; Tailors, Hatters, Shoemakers, Carpenters, 
 
 Builders, 353—355. 
 
 Slacclesfield Silk-Workers, 360. 
 
 ifachine Makers, 351. 
 
 Machine Printers, 122. 
 
 Machinery, introduction of, general remarks 
 upon, 7 — 9 ; caused by Strikes, Bootmakers, 
 324 ; Cotton-Spinners, 402 ; is opposed by 
 some Unions, Bootmakers, 2, 324 ; Coach- 
 makers, 369 ; Sawyers, 425; Sheffield, 584; 
 Shipwrights, 496, 504 ; this opposition dis- 
 approved of by the best societies, 6, 149 ; 
 Engineers, 188 ; claim of Builders for a rise of 
 wages as their lawful profit from machinery, 
 56 ; large macliinery, its effect upon wages, 
 Cotton-Spinners, 389 — 392 ; Coventry Wea- 
 vers, 328. 
 
 Manufactured Material, opposition to the use 
 of, Masons, 286— 334 ; Sawyers (Dublin), 415. 
 
 Masons of London, join in the nine hours' move- 
 ment and Builders' strike of 1859, 53—71 ; 
 see esp. 54, 5G, 67, 73 ; Bules of, 116 ; of Glas- 
 gow, 284—286 ; of Dublin, 409-^24. 
 
 Masters, "fair" and " unfair," Miners, 304 ; Hat- 
 ters, 353 ; Builders, 410 ; Sawyers, 428, &c.; 
 " little mastei-s," Sheffield, 532, 533 ; refuse 
 to recognise Union, Chain Makere, 154, 158 ; 
 Cotton-Spinners, 216 ; Engineers, 202 ; but 
 they should recognise it, Kcport, xvii, 187; 
 sometimes members of Union, Tailors, 300, 
 Sheffield, 534; on good terms with their men, 
 Printers, 3-'>3, secus, Taiioi-s, 353; Cotton 
 Weavers, 442, 453 ; on better terms after a 
 Strike, Chain Makers, 158 ; Miners, 40 ; their 
 social position towards men, Sheffield, 534, 
 535 ; the law of master and servant, 309 ; sel- 
 dom very united, Birmingham, 363 ; Coopers, 
 376 ; Cotton-Spinners, 217 — 230; Cotton Wea- 
 vers, 456 ; Hattei-s, 354 ; Masons, 2S5 ; Shef- 
 field, 535 ; Shipwrights, 492 ; Tailors, 27S ; 
 Potteries, 281. 
 
 Association's, Bookbinders, 100; Builders, 
 
 03 — 72 ; Coal-Owners, 20 — 41, Cotton-Spin- 
 ners, 208—249, 396, 443 ; Engineers, 369— 
 205; Glass Mannfacturci-s, 107— 114 ; Joiners, 
 289 ; j\Ia-^ons, 331—333 ; Shoemakers, 320 ; 
 Sbetfield, 527, 528; created by strike. Boot- 
 makers, 5 ; tilass Makers, 107 ; Engineers, 
 181 ; organized into districts. Builders, 332 ; 
 their objects, to keep doivn wages, Cotton- 
 Spinners, 218; Miners, 25; Sheffield, 528; 
 secus. Shoemakers, 320 ; to regulate trade, 
 Cloth Lappcrs, 277 ; Miners, 25 ; Shipwrights, 
 492, 511 ; Sheffield, 528 ; to check Union, 
 Builders, 331 ; Glass Manufacturers, 168; 
 Joiners, 289 ; Shoemakers, 320, &c. ; to ex- 
 tinguish Unions, Builders, 63 ; Joiners, 288, 
 and see Declaration; their rules, general. 
 Builders, 63, 331 ; Engineers, 202 ; Glass 
 Slanufacturers, 107 ; Joiners, 289 ; Shoe- 
 makers, 320 ; special, not to employ men 
 without note. Calico Printers 370 ; Coal- 
 
Index. 
 
 647 
 
 Owners, 25, 383 ; Gla.ss JIanufactnvcrs, 108 ; 
 Shipwriglits, 50(3 ; to support musters who 
 are struck against, Coal-Owners, 2(1; Cotton 
 Weavers, 443 j ulass Maiuiiacturers, 108 • 
 Shoemakers, 320 ; Weavers, 443 ; to raise a 
 Strike Insurance Fund, Miners, 41 ; to lock- 
 out if necessary, Cotton-Splnncra, 3a4 ; En"l- 
 noere, 178; Joiners, 288, 289; shipwrights, 
 500 i to exact a declaration, see BedaraUuii, 
 1 .—Rules eiifoned bn Fines, Cotton-Spinners, 
 215, 240, 394 ; Joiners, 290 ; Uieii- pronedimjs 
 secret, Ensineers, 182, 183 ; Miners, 20. 
 
 Mediation offered by townsmen, Cotton-Spinners, 
 244 — 240 ; Cotton Weavers, 453 ; by niaiiu- 
 Jactnrers, Cotton Weavers, 458 ; by Local 
 Board of Health, Coventry Weavers, 326 ; by 
 London Society of Arts, Cotton-Sphmeis, 228. 
 
 Miners, Adwalton, 43, 139 ; Barusley, 43, 140 ; 
 Lancashire and Cheshire, 13S, 303 ; Kew- 
 castle, 373, 374; Scottish, 306 — 315, 382; 
 Staffordshire, 300—303 ; Yorkshire, West, 11 
 — 51 ; Yorkshire, South, 38. 
 
 Morality. See Union, its effect upon the moral 
 character. 
 
 Morocco Leather Finishers, 132. 
 
 Mortalit.v in Trade, Builders, 75 ; Ironfounders, 
 317 ; Miners, 49 ; Potters, 2S2 ; Sheffield, 603; 
 increased by Strikes. Sua Strikes. 
 
 S'ewcastle Chain JIakers. See Chain Makers. 
 
 Newspapers, to circulate trade statistics. Book- 
 binders' Circular, 103 ; Chain Makers' Journal, 
 148, 163; Miners, 300; I'lnsterers, 123 ; Pot- 
 ters, 281 ; Voice of the People, 392 ; to em- 
 ploy the unemployed, Printers, SO. 
 
 Nicknames, "Blacks," Coachmakers, 330; Slief- 
 ljeld,526; "Black sheep," 30 ; "Colts," Build- 
 ers, 410; "Knob-sticks," Coventry Weavers, 
 327 ; " Nobs," Cotton-Spinners, 401; "Scabs," 
 Shoemakers, 3, 
 
 Non-UnionisLs, Prohibitions to Unionists to 
 work with ; absoliite'proltibitions. Bakers, 135 ; 
 Jtiners (Adwalton), 139 ; Printers, 86, 408 ; 
 Seamen, 127 ; shipwrights, 484, 504, 507 ; 
 Upholsterers, 133 ; conditional upon the Unioih 
 having a majority or enforcing its rules in the 
 shop. Painters, 137 ; Printers, 7S ; Tailors 
 (Glasgow), 2SII; Tin Plate Workers, 133; 
 Ship-Joiners, 299 ; no prohibitions, Cotton- 
 Spinnei-s, 395, 398 ; Coventry Weavers, 326 ; 
 Engineex*s, 188 ; Minei^, 21 ; treatment of , see 
 Interference. 
 
 Kotice, before leaving, none, Cotton-Spinners, 
 400 ; Painters, 290 ; Plasterers, 425 ; a week. 
 Chain Makers, 154 ; Bakers, 295 ; a fortnight. 
 Glass Makers, 104 ; Ironfoundcrs,319 ; Printers, 
 125, 405 ; a month, Printera, 125 ; if given 
 b.v Secretary of Union on behalf of the ope- 
 ratives, questionable, Chain Makers, 154 ; 
 ifasons, 337 ; before change of terms, ten days. 
 Shipwrights, 487, 489 ; six months, (rlasgow 
 Masons, 285 ; a year. Painters, 291 ; Sheffield, 
 573 ; evils of no notice, Cotton-Spinners, 394, 
 399. 
 
 Kottingham Stocking-Makci-s, 362. 
 
 Oversupply of labour market. Engineers, 192, 
 193 ; Printers, 82 ; Trades in 1838, 388 ; Sea- 
 men, 120, Sic— Rules of Trade Union to pre- 
 vent it, requiring apprenticeship and limiting 
 numborof apprentices, see Apprenticeship ; ex- 
 cluding unskilled labour, sec Unskilled: pro- 
 hibiting the employment of women, see II o- 
 men; imposing local restrictions, see Local; 
 limiting hours of laljour, see Jloiirs and Shef- 
 field, 545 ; Weavers, 381 ; promoting Emi- 
 gration, see Emigration. 
 
 Overtime, reasons for, its necessity, 190, 191 ; 
 it rewards the industrious, 266; reasons 
 
 against ; its results. Excessive work, 188 ; 
 deprivation to the unemployed, 188 ; deterio- 
 r;ition of the workman, 174, 008 ; drmikcnncss, 
 2(i,S; loss of proper leisure, 174; general 
 reduction of wages, 268, 544, 545.— Disliked 
 or prohibited, by Bakers, 295 ; Coachmakers, 
 118; Engineers, 117,173,608; Masons, 110; 
 Miners, 268,305 ; Painters, 291 ; ShipAvrights, 
 .'i07; Ship-foincrs, 298; Taibirs, 279;— not 
 discounteimnced, by Miners, 268 ; Potters, 282 ; 
 Sheffield, 531. 
 
 Padiham, Weavers, 433^72, 038. 
 
 Painters, of Dublin, 409—418, 426—428 ; of 
 Glasgow, 29a— 295 ; of Liverpool, 137— 297; of 
 London, 54; join in the Builders' Strike of 
 18.09, 54-5-72, esp. 54, 57, 07, 73. 
 
 Paper Malcoijs, 376. 
 
 Parliamentarj' Committees upon Combinations, 
 350 — 131, 630—638. 
 
 Petition, to Parliament, by :Miners, 46, 48, 302 ; 
 by Preston Townsmen, 236; fi-om Sheffield 
 Master Cutlers, 528 ; — to Home Secretary, by 
 Preston men, 219 ; Preston masters, 219. 
 
 Pickets of Mills, &c. See Interference. 
 
 Piecework, Reasons tor, 192, 4S1 ; Reasons 
 against, 174, 188, 189, 207, 412.— Disliked or 
 or prohibited, by Builders, 412, 421, 425 ; Car- 
 penters, 286, 296, 368 ; Coachmakers, 118 ; 
 Engineers, 198 ; Masons, 285 ; Painters, 290 ; 
 Plasterers, 138; Seamen, 128; Slaters, 137; 
 Ship-Joiners, 298 ; Shipwrights, 481, 508, see 
 also Strikes; Enforced by Union, Weavers, 
 375. For list of trades _where paymeut is by 
 the piece, sec Wages. 
 
 Pitchpot yards, 483. 
 
 Pitshops, Tailors, 281 . 
 
 Plasterers, of Dublin, 409^18, 425; of Liver- 
 pool, 138, 297 ; of London, 54—72, esp. 54, 
 67, 73, 122. 
 
 Plumbers, 133. 
 
 Poetical squibs, Slicffleld 525, 526; balance- 
 sheets, 253. 
 
 Politics discussed at Trade Unions, Shipwrights, 
 480 ; excluded, Sheffield, 546 ; ought always 
 to be excluded, 022. 
 
 Poor-laws, their operation during Strikes, Pres- 
 ton, 222, 233, 236 ; Sheffield, 539, 542, 547. 
 
 Pottcre, 134, 135, 280. 
 
 Preston Strike, 207—203. 
 
 Printers, 76—92, 124, 125, 032; of London, 353; 
 of Ireland, 403—409 ; of Scotland, 015. 
 
 Prud'hommes, 588. 
 
 Public-houses, Meetings of Union In, discon- 
 tinued, by Bookbinders, 1 00 ; all Scottish 
 Trades, 272, 300. Protest by Union against 
 payment of wages in. Masons, 335 ; Ship- 
 wrights, 488, 491, 499. 
 
 Questions submitted to Einplo.vcrs of Labour, 
 627; to Trade Unions, 625 ; to both Employ- 
 ers and Ti-ade Unions concerning Strikes, 628. 
 
 Railway Spring ^fakers, 131, 574. 
 Rochdale Flannel Weavers, 381. 
 Rules of Masters' Associations, sec Masters ; of 
 Trade Unions, see Union. 
 
 Saddlers (Dublin), 370-r372. 
 
 Saw Makers, Shcfflcld. 131. 
 
 Saw\ers, of Liverpool, 361 ; of Dublin, 415, 424. 
 
 Scandalous threats by Union, Cotton-Spinncr.i, 
 
 253 ; Cotton Weavers, 457 ; Discussion, 622. 
 Scotch Trades. Sec Cotton-Spinners, Cotton 
 
 Weavers, Miners, Glasgow, Printers. 
 Seamen, 125, 378—380. 
 Secrecy, under Combination Laws, xix ; should 
 
 be abolished, xxi ; required by Unions, 
 
 Carpenters, 296, 420 ; :Miners, 29; Engineers, 
 
648 
 
 Index. 
 
 193; but not practised, 41, 182, 307, vii ; 
 
 practised by masters, Coal-Owners, 20, 26, 
 
 26, 41 ; Cotton-Spimiers, 396 ; Engineei-s, 182. 
 Sheffield Trades, 621—585 ; 040—642. 
 Ship-Joinere, 298, 49S. 
 Shipowners, tlicir relation towards master and 
 
 operative Shipwrights, 480, 481, 491 \ their 
 
 Protection Society, 379. 
 ShipiTOghts, 479—621 ; 639, 640. 
 SlioemaliLers, of i^Torthampton, 2 — 9, 631 ; of 
 
 London, 320,354; olBlacli.bum,321. 
 Slaters, of Glasgow, 135. 
 " Slating," 368. 
 Smiths, 119, 318. 
 Society of Arts, 229. 
 Statistics of Trades, Builders, 53, 54 ; Printers, 
 
 76, 80, 91 ; Sheffield, 664^.566 ; Sllipwrights, 
 
 BOl, 506 ; Unions, 141—145. 
 Statutes, 70, 338- .348, 636. 
 Stcam-Engine Maiters, 121. 
 Strilies, I. Precautions against Strilces, 11. 
 
 Causes of Striiies and their Issues. III. 
 
 Conduct of Strilies. IV. Cost of Strilies. V. 
 
 Effect of Strilces. VI. Miscellaneous Par- 
 ticulars. 
 \ I, Precautions against Strikes. 
 
 Private remonstrance with employer^ Coacli- 
 malters, lis ; Carpenters, 287, 296; Cotton- 
 
 n. Causes (yf Strikes and Vmr Issues. 
 
 Successful. 
 For an advance of wages. Carpenters, 287. 
 
 Ditto, 288. 
 
 Ditto, 288. 
 
 Ditto, 365. 
 Cliain Maimers, 156. 
 Coopers, 275. 
 Hatters, 354. 
 ILisons, 286. 
 Miners, 306. 
 Painters, 290. 
 
 Ditto, 290. 
 Saddlers, 370. 
 Sheffield, 654. 
 
 Ditto, 674. 
 
 Ditto, 577. 
 Ship-Joiners, 287. 
 Shipwrights, 610. 
 Stoaliing-Malters, 362. 
 Against a reduction of 
 wages Cloth-Workers, 359. 
 
 Ditto, 360. 
 Miners, 37. 
 Printers, 78, 
 
 Ditto, 79. 
 
 Spinners, 397 ; Iron Fomiders, 316 ; Masons, 
 117; Plumbers, 134; Power-Loom Weavers, 
 129 ; Tailors, 279. — Offer o/ arbitration, pre- 
 scribed by Tutes, Miners, 306 ; Painters, 293 ; 
 Potters, 282 ; Printers, 86 ; Tailors (Glas- 
 gow), 279; Tailors (Liveriiool), 138 ; as a fact 
 madeby men andre/used by masters, Cotton- 
 Spinners, 226 ; do. 216, do. 217 ; Engineers, 
 182, 190 ; Miners, 306. Restriction as to the 
 causes foi' legal Strike, Builders, 69 ; Car- 
 penters, 117 ; Iron Founders, 316 ; Masons, 
 117. Official investigation of complaint, 
 Coachmaliers, 118 ; Cotton-Spinners, 396 ; 
 Cotton Weavers, 439 ; Iron Founders, 316 ; 
 Miners, 139 ; Railway Spring JIaliers, 132 ; 
 Smitlis, 121; Weavers, 129. Restriction as 
 to the numbers of those on Strike at the same 
 time. Carpenters, 117 ; Miners, 29 ; Potters, 
 134. Information required by the Central 
 Committee as to thenunriJber, &c., oftltose wlio 
 are about to strike, Masons, 117 ; Plumbers, 
 134. General vote required of District or of the 
 Central Committee, Carpenters, 117 ; Cotton- 
 Spinners, 397 ; Glass Maliers, 122 ; Iron 
 Pounders, 316 ; Masons, 116, 117 ; Miners, 
 29, 43, 44, 139, 140 ; Painters, 297 ; Plas- 
 terers, 123 ; Potters, 136, 281 ; Seamen, 127 ; 
 Weavers, 129, 438. 
 
 Doubtful. Unsuccessful. 
 
 Bakers, 295. 
 Cotton-Spinners, 209, 
 
 Ditto, 249. 
 Miners, 301. 
 
 Ditto, 373. 
 Sawyers, 361. 
 Slioemakers, 320. 
 
 Printers, 81. 
 ShefBeld, 647. 
 Shipwrights, 493. 
 
 For a reduction of hours. . Bookbinders, 94. . . , 
 
 Carpenters, 287. 
 
 Cloth Lappers, 276. 
 Against extension of 
 horn's Carpenters, 287. 
 
 SiUc-Workers, 360. 
 About apprentices Bookblndei-s, 99. 
 
 Printers, 80. ' 
 
 Against N'on-Unionists ,- Shoemakei-s, 321. 
 
 Againstnnskilled labour. . ]?rinters, SI. 
 Against dismissal of men Shipwrights, 506. 
 
 Boatmen, 430, 431. 
 Against contract work . . Shipwrights, 481 
 
 Canienters, 288. 
 Cloth-Workers, 359. 
 Cotton-Spinners, 394. 
 
 Ditto, 397. 
 Cotton Weavers, 366. 
 Linen Weavers, 360. 
 
 Ditto, 360. 
 
 Ditto, 360. 
 Miners, 306. 
 
 Ditto, 306. 
 
 Ditto, 306. 
 Woollen Workers, 
 
 366, 366. 
 Bookbinders, 98. 
 Builders, 53, et seq. 
 
 Calico Printers, 403. 
 Glass Makers, 105, et 
 
 seq. 
 Printers, 83. 
 
 Hatters, 363. 
 Shoemakers, 321. 
 Printers, 80. 
 
Index, 
 
 649 
 
 .„„. . ,, Successful. Doubtful. Unsuccessful. 
 
 Against weekly wages .. Coventry -Weavers, 
 325. 
 
 , . Bltto, 327. 
 
 Against Truck Chain Makers, 153. 
 
 Against Machinery Shoemakers, 1-9. 
 
 Against Pitsliops Tailors, 269. 
 
 Against gcoa-from-oven, 
 
 ^^y^t^™ Potters,282. 
 
 To secure same rate of 
 wages for one year Painters* 293. 
 
 To secure clouble pay for 
 double use of the same 
 type Printers, 83. 
 
 To secure overtime begin- 
 ning earlier Printers, 82. 
 
 GeneraUy Ha,tters, 354 Cotton-Spinners, 20: 
 
 Tailors, 353. 
 
 in. Conduct of Strike. 
 Strike in detail, Builders, 59 ; Chain 
 Makers, 153 ; Glass Makers, 107 ; Miners, 
 28. Offer of Arbitration during the Strike, 
 by men and refused by masters, Cotton- 
 Spinners, 244—247, 394 ; Engineers, 184 ; 
 Miners, 34 ; by masters and refused by 
 men, Painters, 293. Violence and intimi- 
 dation, see Ititer/e}''ence. 
 
 XV. Cost 0/ Strike. 
 Bookbinders, 98, 100 ; Builders, 73 ; Chain 
 Makers, 157 j Coopers, 275; Cotton-Spin- 
 ners, 215, 400 ; Cotton Weaving, 464, 465 ; 
 Engineers, 186 ; Glass Makers, 113 ; Minera, 
 38; Scotland, Discussion, 601. 
 
 V. Effects of Strike. 
 Monomic^ the sti-ike pays, Chain Makers, 
 158 ; Miners, 39 ; trade is injured. Ship- 
 wrights, 514. Physical, on the rate of mor- 
 tality. Builders, 75 ; Cotton- Spinners, 221; 
 Miners, 39. Moral, good. Chain Makers, 
 158 ; Miners, 38, 39 ; Report, xix ; bad. 
 Miners, 308. 
 
 VT. Strikes. (Miscellaneous Particulars.) 
 Encouraged by Masters, Cottou-Spinners, 
 396, 398 ; Cotton Weavers, 359 ; Stocking- 
 Makers, 162 ; Weavers, 381 ; supported b}- 
 public subscriptions, Sheffield, 551 ; Stock- 
 ing-Makers, 362 ; Coventry Weavers, 328 ; 
 forbidden by Union, Smiths, 119, 121 ; 
 number of, in .Printing Trade with causes 
 analyzed, 83 ; legal and illegal, Builders, 
 69 ; not always enforced when legal. 
 Printers, 82, 86 ; frequent, Carpenters, 287, 
 Miners, 269 ; Weavers, 269 ; Shipwrights, 
 510, 514 ; illegal in France, 593 ; Anti-Strike 
 Committee, Builders, 67. 
 Stock, Miners refuse to work for, 36, 37. 
 Stocking-Makers, 362. 
 Stockport, 211, 246, 247. 
 
 Tailors, of Glasgow, 277 ; of Liverpool, 137, 299 ; 
 of London, 353. 
 
 Tin Plate Workers, 133. 
 
 Trades. See Bakei-s, Birmingham, Bookbinders, 
 Bricklayers, Builders, Calico Printers, Canal 
 Boatmen, Carpenters, Chain Makers, Cloth 
 Lappers, Cloth - Workers, Coachmakers, 
 Coopers, Cotton-Spinners, Cotton Weavers, 
 Coventry Weavers, Engineers, Glass Makers, 
 Iron Founders, Ironmongers, Joiners, Lace 
 Makers, Machine Makers, Jlasons, Miners, 
 Morocco Leather Finishers, Painters, Paper 
 Makers, Plasterers, Plumbers, Potters, 
 Printers, Kailway Spring Makers, Saddlers, 
 Saw Makers, Sawyers, Seamen, Sheffield 
 Trades, Ship-Joiners, Shipwrights, Shoe- 
 makers, Silk - Workers, Slaters, Smiths, 
 Steam -Engine Makers, Stocking - Makers, 
 
 Ditto, 393 
 Iron Founders, 318. 
 Tailors, Tin Plate Workers, Upholsterers, 
 Watch-Makers, Weavers, Woollen Manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Tramps, 141 — 146 ; Bootmakers, 6 ; Carpenters, 
 296 ; Coachmakers, 331 ; Iron Founders, 
 317; Masons, 286; Printers, 404; Tailors, 
 280; discouraged by Coopers, 276 ; by Potters, 
 281 ; Printers, 78, 80. 
 
 Truck, Bakers, 295 ; Builders (Dublin), 410 ; 
 Chain Makers, 129, 130, 153, 168; Miners, 
 311; Sheffield, 560; Watch-Makers, 329. 
 
 Unemployed, aliment to the. See Aliment. 
 Number of, as compared with the employed. 
 Printers, 81, 406 ; Sheffield, 539, 540. 
 
 Uniforai Wages. See Wages. 
 
 Unions : — 
 I. Origin and history. II. Objects. III. 
 Constitution. IV. Rules. V. Necessity. VI. 
 Effects. Vir. Present Position. VIII. Fu- 
 ture Improvement. IX. Miscellaneous Par- 
 ticulars. 
 
 I. Origin and History. 
 
 Forbidden by Statute, 340 — 347 ; legalized 
 in IS'24, 347 ; remnant of ancient Guilds, 
 Sheffield, 522, 523. Created, out of con- 
 vivial meetings, Bookbinders, 93 ; by im- 
 mediate distress, Chain Makers, 158 ; Shef- 
 field, 543 ; Printers. 404 ; Tailors, 137, 299 ; 
 Watch-Makers, 339 ; by Strikes, Boot- 
 makers, 3 ; Miners, 11. History of, Book- 
 bindei-s, 93—104, 633 ; Sheffield, 521—685, 
 640 ; Shipwrights, 478—520, 639 ; Printers, 
 77—92, 632. 
 
 II. Objects. 
 
 Benefit purposes, see Benefit; Tradepur- 
 poses generally, to secui'e a fair day's wages 
 for a fair day's work. Report, viii, 265 ; as 
 professed. Bakers, 295 ; Cai*penter.s, 135, 
 418; Chain Makers, 129; Cloth Lappers, 
 276; Coopers, 134; Cotton-Spinners, 396; 
 Coventry Weavers, 132 ; Lace Makers, 130; 
 Masons, 116, 284 ; Miners, 34, 41, 43, 306 ; 
 Morocco Leather Finishers, 132 ; Painters, 
 137, 297 ; Plasterers, 122 ; Plumbers, 133 ; 
 Potters, 135 ; Printers, 76, 81, 86, 87, 124, 
 404 ; Railway Spring Makers, 131 ; Saw- 
 Makers, 131; Seamen, 125; Sheffield, 522; 
 Ship-Joiners, 29S ; Shipwrights, 501 ; Shoe- 
 makers, 3 ; Slatersi, 136 ; Smiths, 119 ; 
 Steam-Englne Makers, 121 ; Tailors, 137, 
 277 ; Weavers, 128, 436, 437. 
 
 III. Constitution. 
 
 Purely local or organized into districts, 115, 
 141 — 146. Conditions of entrance, fees, 
 141 — 146 ; extra fees for strangers ; Car- 
 penters, 420 ; Cotton-Spinners, 402; Printers, 
 404; character, see iw/., Effect of Union on 
 Cfiaracter; efficiency, «??/•> Effect of Union 
 
650 
 
 Index. 
 
 vpon Skill; apprpiiticcsliip, see ?'»/., Effect 
 of Union "upon SiriU, and Apprenticeship; 
 local (luiiliflmtion, ShipAiTijfhts, 497. — 
 Executive, Bakcr^i, 295 ; liootniaker.'^, 
 354 ; Carpcntorri, 367, 418 ; Cotton-Spin- 
 ners, 3!)3, 3!)(J ; Coventry 'Weavers, 
 32fi ; Knjrineers, 119 ; Glass Makers, 
 122 ; Iron Founclers, 31G ; 3Iasons, 116, 
 284; :iIiiKTS, 2!), 43, 139, 3li2, 304, 30G ; 
 Painters, 297 ; Plasterers, 123 ; Potters, 
 280; Printers, 77, 7S, 81, 85; Slieffleld, 
 C(i8, .'.71 ; Sllip^vriJ,'llt^, 480 ; Smiths, 121 ; 
 Stcnm - En.Lrinc Makers, 121 ; Tailors, 
 353 ; Weavers, 129, and >qq Balance-Sheetti 
 and Delegates, — [blasters may be members 
 of Union, Sheffield, ^^G\ Tailors, 300. 
 More than one Union in the same trade, 
 Bookbinders, ]03; Brieklayers, 423; Car- 
 penter-;, 418 ; Painters, 426 ; Sliipwri'jlit'f, 
 49t>. Association of different trades, Xu- 
 tional Assoeiation for the Protection of 
 Labour, 392 ; (ilasgow Council of United 
 TradO'*, 273 ; Liverpool Trades Guardian 
 Association, 297 ; ShetHeld Association of 
 Organized Trades, 566 ; Liverpool United 
 Ship Trades Association, 298. 
 ly. Rules. 
 
 Enforcing a uniform rate of wages. See 
 Wages, 
 
 rvlethods of Work. See Work. 
 Heslricfice as to the number of Appreu- 
 tice-s. See Apprentices. 
 
 The hours of Labour, ^^.o, Hours. 
 
 Tlie amount of Work. See Limit. 
 
 The term of hiring. See Hiring. 
 
 Control over AVorkmen. See Control. 
 
 Choice of Labourers. See Choice. 
 
 Choice of Foremen, See Foremen. 
 Frohibilorif of vrork -with Kon-Uuionists. 
 See Noil -Unionists. 
 
 Employment of unskilled labour. See 
 U/is/ciUed. 
 
 Empl)»yment of Women. See Women. 
 
 Employment of Strangers. See Local 
 Restrict ions. 
 
 Pieeeivork. See Pieceirork. 
 
 Overtime. See Overtime. 
 
 Subcontracts. See Contract Work. 
 
 Truck. See Truck. 
 
 Deductions. See Dedwtians. 
 
 Use of Manufactured Material. See 
 Manufactured. 
 
 ilachineiy. See Afachinen/. 
 MiscaUaneous. See Arbitration, Black 
 
 Lists, Enqiloyment, Secrets, Strikes. 
 
 lieport, xi. 
 y, Necesaitv ? 
 
 Report, ix, x, 26-?, 266, 273; Discussion, 
 596—617; Chain Makers, 152, 153, 162; 
 Coopers, 134, 275; Cotton -Spinners, 21il, 
 392 ; Cotton Weavers, 470 ; Engineers, 
 190, 200 ; Lace Makers, 130 ; Blasons, 334 ; 
 Minei-s, 300, 301, 307 ; Plumbers, 133 ; 
 Printers, 124; Sheffield, 538,543,576, 585 ; 
 Shipwrights, 504 ; see also Strikes and wf.. 
 Effect of Union upon Wages. 
 yi. Effects. 
 Upon Wages, 
 
 None, Chain Makers, 162 ; Cotton-Spin- 
 ners, 389 ; Masons, 334 ; Sheffield, 576 \ 
 Shipwrights, 512; Discussion, 597, 613, 
 614, 619, 621 . They keep icages steady, 
 ShipwriL'lit^, 504. Theij enfoire only Vie 
 marki-t rate. Discussion, 605, 609, 610, 
 612, 613; and see Strikes. Have raised 
 wages unwarrantably, Keport, x ; Builders, 
 413, 428 ; Cotton - Spinners, 358 ; Iron 
 Founders, 31K ; Shipwrights, 429, 514. As 
 a fact, wages of United Trades are higher 
 
 than ir ages of Non-United Trades, Bakers, 
 266 ; Handloomers, 266 ; Slieffleld Penknite 
 JIakers, 558 ; wages of Unionists are higher 
 than icages of Non-Unionists in the sa/uf 
 Trade, Chain ilakers, 153; Cotton-Spin- 
 ners, 389, 403 ; Miners, 301, 307; all Dub- 
 lin Trades, 380 ; secus, Masons, 334. Unions 
 equalize toages irrespective of theplaceor the 
 workman's skill, see Wages Unifwmity. A 
 General rise of Wages loithout interrevtiov. 
 of Society, rare, 266; ^liners, 304; Shef- 
 field, 578, secus. Discussion, 619, 613, 
 
 Upon Trade, 
 Builders, 417; Printers, 408; Sheffield, 
 584, 585 ; Shipwrights, 429, 497, 512—515 ; 
 Report, xix ; Discussion, 597, 
 
 Ujion the Efficiency of the Workman, 
 
 272 ; Qualification, a cojulition of entrance. 
 Cloth Lappers, 276 ; Ironmongers, 272 ; 
 Masons, 284; Miners, 306; Painters, 272; 
 Upholsterers, 272 ; secus, Minere, 304 ; 
 Irish Builders, 412 ; Masons, 334. 4p- 
 2<renticeship a condition of entrance, Cabi- 
 net-Ma kei-s, 369; Chain Makers, 130; 
 Coachmakers, 118 ; Cotton -Spinners, 397 ; 
 Engineei-s, 119, 193 ; Flannel Weavers, 
 381; Glass Makers, 121; Masons, 116; 
 Painters, 297 ; Printers, 79, 84, 404 ; Shef- 
 field, 561; Shipwrights, 501, 506, 510; 
 Steam-Engine Makers, 121. Indemnity 
 given to Employer's, Plasterers, 123 ? ; 
 Tailors, 300; Bookbinders, 123. Bad Faith 
 to Emjtloyers punished, Hattei-s, 353. No 
 relief given to those dismissed for incompe- 
 tence, aeeStrikes ; Unsound icork disapproved 
 of. Report, x ; Builders, x ; Chain Makers, 
 149; Potters, 283; Miners, 305 ; Sheffield, 
 559, 560 ; Shipwrights, 488, 497, 509 ; 
 Watch-Makers, 329 ; and see Fiecework, 
 Contract Wo7-k. Unionists better workmen 
 than Non-Unionists. Bootmakers, 321 ; 
 Cotton- Spinners, 401 ; Irish Trades, 389 ; 
 Printers, 89 ; Sheffield, 548 ; Shipwrights, 
 504 ; Worse, Builders, 334 ; Iron Foundei-s, 
 318,319; Masons, 334; Miners, 305 ; Dis- 
 cussion, 597; Sheffield, 584,585. Generally, 
 272. Report, xiv. 
 
 Upon the moral character. 
 
 Generally, 272 ; Report, xviii, xix. — 
 Character, a condition of entrance. Engi- 
 neers, 119; Printers, 404; Tailors, 298, 
 Fraud of members exposed. Printers, 90. 
 Thieves prosecuted. Joiners, 296. Drunk- 
 enness punished. Cloth Lftppers, 184. No 
 support to those discharged /or bad conduct. 
 Masons, 285; 3Iinei-s, 13!*; secus. Canal 
 Boatmen, 430 ; Non-protection or punish- 
 ment for breach of low. Masons, 284 ; 
 I\Iinci-s, 30G ; Shipwrights, 502 ; secus, 
 Adwalton Miners, 139. Unionists gene- 
 rally of good character, Cotton-Spinners, 
 401 ; Shipwrights, 504, 515 ; secus, 272. 
 
 Upon public opinion, 272. 
 
 VH. Present Position. 
 Represent, all the Trade, Canal Boatmen, 
 431; Mechanics, 318; Printers, 404 ; Sea- 
 men, 379 ; Shipwrights, 429, 505, 506 ; 
 Smiths, 318 ; Bailway Spring Makers, 574, 
 More than half the trade, Cotton-Spinners, 
 393, 396 ; IMnters, 91 ; Sheffield, 583, &c. 
 Half the trade, Cai-pentcrs, 367 ; Masons, 
 334 ; Moulders, 318 ; Painters, 426 : Plas- 
 terers, 425, Less than half the trade, Car- 
 penters, 418 ; Coopers, 374 ; Tailors, 299 ; 
 Watch-Makers, 328. — Trades not in Union, 
 Sheffield, 565. Unions are fairly repre- 
 sented by tJie Delegates, Report, xvi; 
 Discussion, 599, 605, and see Delegates. 
 Ai-e increasing, Report, xvli ; and improv- 
 
Index. 
 
 651 
 
 ng, xviu. Cannot be put down by penal 
 laws or lock-onts, but only expand the 
 
 ?i?''^',,?''"°""'*P'™«'^' 392; Engineers, 
 187 ; Miners, 12 ; Discussion, 607. Should 
 ?S, ■■^/"t'nlsed by Masters, Keport, xvi, 
 I.»7, 471. Are recognised, Builders, 419 • 
 Shipwnghts, 483, 495, 498. Are not recoil 
 nised. Chain Makers, 1.54, 168; Cotton- 
 Spinners, 216; Cotton Weavers 447. En- 
 gineers, 202 ; Printers, 409. ' 
 Vm. Future Improvement, Keport, xix, xxi 
 
 272 ; Discussion, 617. 
 IX. Miscellaneous Particulars. 
 irnlons, the larger the better, 89, 4G9. Flou- 
 rish most in bad times. Chain Makers, 1.53 • 
 Miners, 39, 300, 306. Assist each other in 
 Strikes, Builders, 73, Chain Makers, 157 ; 
 Cotton-Spinners, 260. Ought to withhold 
 assistance to improper strikes. Bootmakers, 
 8. Are sometimes political. Shipwrights, 
 480, 492 ; secus, Sheffield, 538, 541, 543, 561. 
 Ought never to be so. Discussion, 622. 
 Unskilled Labour, Prohibited by Union, Plas- 
 terers, 132 ; Printers, 82; Slaters, 137 ; Ship- 
 wrights, 515 ; and see Apprenticeship, and 
 p. 388. 
 Upholsterers, Liverpool, 132. 
 
 Violence, see Interference. 
 
 Wages.— I. Amount. II. Method. III. Unifor- 
 mity. IV. Payment. 
 I. Amount of in different trades. 
 Bakers, 295 ; Bootmakers, 364 ; Builders, 54, 
 424 ; Canal Boatmen, 430 ; Carpenters, 287, 
 297 ; Chain Makers, 165; Cloth Lappers, 276 ; 
 Cloth- Workers, 359, 377 ; Coopers, London, 
 376 ; Glasgow, 275; Cotton-Spinners, Preston, 
 224, 226, 357 ; Glasgow, 400 ; Belfast, 403 ; 
 Manchester, 393 ; Cotton Weavers, Glasgow, 
 356 ; Laacashire, 358 ; Glass Makers, 112 ; 
 Hatters, 354 ; Ironmoulders, 318, 319 ; Ma- 
 sons, Glasgow, 286 ; in the North, 336 ; Lon- 
 don, 64 ; Miners, 374 ; Painters, Glasgow, 
 290 ; Dublin, 427 ; Liverpool, 298 ; Potters, 
 281; Printers, 86, 86, 87, 88, 91, 406 ; Railway 
 Spring Makers, 676; Saddlers, 370 ; Sawyers, 
 361, 425 ; ShefHeld Trades, 558, 672, 676 ; 
 Ship-Joiners, 298 ; Shipwrights,492, 493, 496, 
 498, 510, 612 ; Silk- Workers, 361 ; Smiths, 
 318 ; Stocking-Makers, 362,863; Tailors, 279. 
 Fixed by statute directly, 339, 340. By Jus- 
 tices of the Peace, 843, 344, 356, 363, 371, 372. 
 Fixed by con/ereJtcebeiweenmastersandTnen, 
 Cotton Weavers, 433 ; Masons, 285, 336 ; 
 Painters, 290—293 ; Printers, 86, 87, 88, 405 ; 
 Shipwrights, 499 ; Tailors, 279. What is ac- 
 tually being paid often the mt^ect of dispute ; 
 Chain Makers, 155 — 158 ; Cotton-Spinners, 
 Preston, 223, 226, 231; Glasgow, 368—400 ; 
 
 Manchester, 393 ; Cotton Weavers, 434, 435, 
 441 ; Miners 16. 
 
 II. Method. 
 
 By Time, Bakers, 295 ; Builders, 411 ; By- 
 workers in Mines, 12 ; Carpenters, 421 ; Cloth 
 Lappers, 276 ; Glass Makers, 112 ; Ironmon- 
 gers, 318 ; Masons, 284 ; Painters, 291, 297 ; 
 Plasterers, 425 ; Ship-Joiners, 298 ; Ship- 
 wrights,481 ; Slaters, 267 ; Upholsterers,267. 
 By the piece. Bootmakers, 354 ; Eottlemakers, 
 267 ; Chain Makers, 152 ; Cotton-Spinners, 
 389; Cotton Weavers, 433; Miners, 12; 
 Potters, 281 ; Tailors, 278. By both time and 
 piece. Coopers, 275 ; Ironfounders, 267 ; 
 Miners, 12, 22, 304; Printers, 87, 88,405; 
 Sawyers;861; Watch-Makers,267; Coventry 
 Weavers, 326. 
 
 III. Uniformity. 
 
 Report, xii, xix, 266, 412, 469 ; Discussion, 
 607,616; Irrespective of varieties of skill; 
 Minimum required, Builders, 412 ; Glass 
 Makers, 105; Printers, 86, 87 ; Painters, 
 137; Hallway Spring Makers, 575; Uphol- 
 sterers, 133. Uniformity required ; Boot- 
 makers, 3 ; Building Trades, 412 ; Chain 
 Makers, 130; Masons, 334 ; Printers, 87, 
 407; Seamen, 127; Sheffield Trades, 627; 
 Shipwrights, 612, 519. Not required, 
 Coopers, 275 ; Engineers, 178 ; Miners, 304 ; 
 not enforced. Bakers, 295 ; Carpenters, 296 ; 
 Tailors, 299 ; Watch-Makers, 829 ; Classifi- 
 cation proposed but rejected, Carpenters, 
 412. Uniformity Irrespective of local dis- 
 advantages, Preston, 212; Padlham, 435; 
 Miners, 314, 315. 
 
 IV. Payment. 
 
 Weekly, Miners, 24 ; Painters, 291 ; Fort- 
 nightly, Iron Founders, 319 ; Masons, 285 ; 
 Monthly, Miners, 24, 311. Not in a public- 
 house, see Public. Not In truck, see Truck. 
 Wakefield Cloth Trade, 877. 
 Watch-Makers of Coventry, 329. 
 Weavers, of Lancashire, 128 ; of Padlham, 433 — 
 472 ; of Kochdale, 381 ; of Yorkshire, 380 ; 
 of Coventry, 132,324^-328 ; of Glasgow, 366. 
 Weight, fair method of, required by Miners, 
 
 309, 310. 
 Women, Employed, Bookbinders, 101 ; Chain 
 Makers, 149 ; Cotton-Spinners, 400 ; Miners, 
 803 ; SheflSeld Trades, 634 ; prohibited to 
 work. Calico Printers, 403 ; Flannel Weavers, 
 381; Shefileld, 666; agitators, Preston, 219; 
 opposed to strikes. Tailors, 353 ; themselves 
 striking. Bookbinders, 101. 
 Woollen Manufacturers, 365. 
 Work. 
 Restrictions in the method of, Report, xii. 
 Bricklayers, x ; Chain Makers, 130 ; Glass 
 Makers, 122; Seamen, 127, 128, 378 ; Ship- 
 wrights, 429, 484, 486, 499, 600, 608,609, 616. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 110, line 19, for " 1860 " read " 1859." 
 „ 269, line 35, for " piecework " read " weekly wages.' 
 „ 306, line 34, for " day " read " darg." 
 „ 315, line 34, for " 8000" read " 20,000." 
 
 335, line 16, for " November " read " February." 
 
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