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    eighty-nine mere workmen ; in yours I find ninety masters / The words of the Archbishop . are true . The principle of association has made us all masters , whilst we have not lost the character of workmen . But we areand I am convinced of the fact-on the point of losing the advantages of the first class ; let us deliberate then on the means of remaining what we are , mas ers ^ and workmen ,, that is to say , Associates . . Since that _ hberty is refused us , for a long time perhaps in France , although it must pain us to quit our country , let us transport our free industry to a free land . Hitherto we have sent the produce of our varied industry to the New World ; that very exportation has been the great cause of our success —the most extensive source of the happy results of our to the

    efforts Why should we not transport our industry New World ? We shall find there , on the spot itself , the raw materials necessary for us , and the cost of whose trans ; port renders their acquisition here more onerous—I allude to timber , metals , leather , wool , &c ; New York and New Orleans will soon cease to depend on Paris , inasmuch , as with us , who are the real producers of those wonders of Parisian industry , Paris will have emigrated to New York and New Orleans . I propose , then , the formation of a Committee of Emigration , to be charged with the liquidation of the Operative Associations of Paris , the realization of their capital , and the organization of the means necessary for our emigration to the United States within the shortest period possible , "

    The statement was received -with marks of approval . Some other members also addressed the meeting , not , however , to oppose the proposition , but to modify it . Various points of South America and of Canada were also suggested for the new establishment ; but it was observed that these were mere matters of detail , the solution of which ought to be entrusted to the Committee of Emigration , as the labours of that committee would have for their object to give to the proposed emigration all the guarantees !

    of success . After some conversation on matters of detail , the proposition of the operative cabinetmaker whp first addressed the meeting was put to the vote , and unanimously adopted . A Commission of Emigration was then elected by ballot . The author of the proposition was the first who was named member of the commission ; his colleagues are an operative enginemaker , an operative paperstainer , an operative upholsterer , and an operative silversmith . The meeting then separated .

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    THE REFORM CAMPAIGN . MEETING IN SCOTLAND . * Edinburgh and Linlithgow have spoken out on the coining Reform Bill . The Edinburgh Reformers met under the presidence of the Lord Provost ; and the gentlemen around the chair bore names which have been associated with the liberal cause for years . There were Mr . Charles Cowan , M . P ., Mr . Macfarlan , Mr . J . H . Burton , advocate , Mr . W . Duncan , S . S . C ., Mr . William Tait , Mr . F . Russell , and others . The speeches delivered in moving and supporting the subjoined resolutions were up to the mark , and not above it . There was no very particular display of animation except that produced by an allusion to the canvassed question of French invasion . The incident is curious . Dr . Glover , a rather hot-headed gentleman professing Chartist opinions , proposed a weak amendment to the first resolution . It was seconded by a Mr . Henry , who asked whether the people would not refuse to fight if the Government refused to concede the franchise to the working men ? This was received , as it deserved , with hisses . Mr . Russell took up the remark .

    " Notwithstanding the strange sentiments they had heard that evening , and which he knew were not the feelings of the working men—( applause )—he believed that patriotism ran through them all , and that even those who were not reached by this extended suffrage would be ready to show , when occasion offered , that they deserved it , by baring their brawny arms and rushing into the thickest of the fight . ( Loud cheers . }" The following resolutions were unanimously adopted : —

    " That provision should be made for a large extension of tho constituency , which in England and Ireland should take place by conferring the franchise on all persons chargeable with the poor rate ; and in Scotland ( where the poor rate does not universally apply ) by conferring tho franchise on all persons who are chargeable with any general local rate , such as an assessment for the support of the poor , for prisons , or for police purposes ; and , in the event of there being any burgh or district in which no such rate is now levied , that in such oases the franchise should be conferred on all persons who would be chargeable with any such rate if it were levied ; that provision should be made for the extinction of all small burgh constituencies , either by such an

    amalgamation of burghs as would form a united constituency of not fewer than fiOOO electors in each group , or by merging the voters for small burghs in tho constituencies of the counties in which such burghs are severally situated . ; that the right to eleot members no longer required to he returned for small burghs should be transferred , either to towns which have acquired a large population since the passing of the last Koform Act , or to burghs which have so much increased in population since the passing of that Act as to bo now inadequately represently ; and that in any roiirrangement of members , Scotland should have an equal proportion with England , having Tcgard to tho population of each division of tho United Kingdom , and to the nott amount of revenue contributed by each for national purposes ; that provioion should bo made for tUo estabHahnxent of tho

    forty shillings freehold franchise in counties throughout the whole of the United Kingdom ; that all real property held by any other tenure than as freehold should give the same right to the franchise as freehold property ; and that in Scotland provision should be made tp prevent all merely nominal owners from being registered as electors by requiring all claimants to make up their titles in the most complete manner , by mfeftment or otherwise , and that a residence of not less than three months yearly should be required within the county in which the property is situated ; arid that in any measure of reform which may be proposed , it is indispensable that provision should be made for protecting voters , by enacting that all elections should take place by ballot ; for limiting the duration of Parliament to not more than three years , and for abolishing the property qualification now existing in England and Ireland f or members of Parliament . "

    These resolutions , it will he seen , substantially agree with those propounded at the Manchester Conference . One important characteristic of themeeting was , that several working men who , to use their own expression , had been " considerably mixed up" in movements for the charter and universal suffrage , or nothing , professed their readiness to accept of reform by instalments . Linlithgow is not so " advanced" as Edinburgh . Linlithgow eulogizes the ballot ; is prepared to be saved by the ballot ; and is kind enough to pro ess itself incidentally " favourable to a large extension , of the franchise ! '' . "

    In anticipation of the coming election , gentlemen are courting their constituencies pretty freely . Sir James Duke has been down to Boston , it is said , to secure a seat , should his city pedestal break down under him . Colonel Thompson and Mr . Milligan have been at Bradford . Mr . Matheson has been visiting his constituents in the Inverness Burghs . Sir Fitzroy Kelly is coming out for Exeter , in opposition to Mr . Divett . Several towns are advertising for Lord Palmerston . Mr . Walter has been lecturing at Nottingham—on Socrates ! and Mr . G . C . Lewis has been to Hereford .

    " Although , " says the Daily News , " the intentions of Lord John Russell have , of course , been shrouded in all secrecy of official reserve , it is now whispered that the following boroughs are certainly amongst those marked for positive disfranchisement : —Calne , Chippenham , Totness , Harwich , St . Albans . Three others—not named—are likewise , it is said , to lose all Parliamentary privileges . Besides these , many other boroughs are to have enlarged constituencies given them by amalgamation with neighbouring towns . Additional members are to be allotted to London and to Lancashire . Amongst the other chief alterations proposed will , it is said , be a £ 10 franchise for counties , and a £ 5 franchise for boroughs . Not a word is yet said upon that most important point—the Ballot . "

    PREPARATIONS FOK OPENING PARLIAMENT . Preparations on a very extensive scale are being made on the works of the new Houses of Parliament f or the approaching session , which will be opened by her Majesty in person on Tuesday next . The old House of Commons and adjacent buildings in Abingdon-street , and the temporary wooden erections and hoardings in Palace-yard , facing the entrance to Westminster-hall , have been pulled down , and the whole space thrown open , affording an uninterrupted view of the end wings of the new palace . The entrance to the House of

    Commons will be through Westminster-hall , a noble flight of steps at the western end leading to the main corridor or avenue of the chambers . The hall will be lighted by several gas illuminations of a spiral circular form , which will have a most charming eff ect upon the fine and stately proportions of the structure . The entrance of the "Victoria Tower will be used for the first time by her Majesty on the approaching opening . The state carriage will proceed under the tower , and her Majesty , alighting , will be conducted along the royal corridor to the House of Lords . The entire line of quay , or promenade , fronting the Thames , has been lighted by some forty or fifty gas lamps .

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    PROGRESS OF ASSOCIATION . employers' strike . The second aggregate meeting of the workmen engaged in the engineering trades was held on Monday , at St . Martin ' s-hall , Long-acre . Mr . Musto presided . On the platform were Lord Goderich , Mr . William Coningham , of Brighton , Mr . Vansittart Nealo , Mr . Thomas Hughes , Mr . Thornton Hunt , Mr . Furnival , Dr . Travis , Mr . Weller , Mr . M . Morgan , Mr . Le Chevalier , and several other gentlemen unconnected with the iron , trades . Mr . Musto said that they had mot to lay before the trades and the public the exact facts of their p psition . The men were ready to work ; tho masters still held out , and prolonged the strike . Mr . George Usher , a young working man , moved tho first resolution . " The employers of operative engineers having enunciated their right to do what they like with their own , and denied tho operative tho right to do what ho likes in employing his own wages , and devoting his spare time as he will , and having demanded an unconditional submission , this meeting declares that such a submission would be at once both impolitic and disgraceful . "

    ' •¦ They were not now in the position in . which they had found themselves on the last occasion . A fortnight had passed away ~ a fortnight marked by many privations by considerable suffering , and by unwearied exertion and yet , as they now met , a smile of hope and of satial faction Beemed to pervade the whole of this vas t as " semblage . { Cheers . ) The evil prediction of " Ainicus " had not yet been fulfilled . { Hear , hear . ) They had not yet heard that any of , their body had died from Want They had not yet heard that any of their body hai broken the peace . They had not yet heard t hat of

    any their body had used threats or intimidation to prevent those who might be willing to make the unconditional surrender seeking work with such of the employers as would give work to them . ( Cheers . ) They had not yet heard that any of their body had been seen knocking about begging of the employers to give them leave to toil . ( Cheers . ) No , none of these things had happened The greatest unanimity still prevailed among them They had no disaffection in their own ranks . They were all still confident of success ; they all knew that success was inevitable . ( Cheers . )"

    He declared that the present struggle was one upon which depended the rights of the whdle working classes of the country . He defended the Amal gamated Society . " The Amalgamated Society was attacked ; and it wag the Amalgamated Society which they were defending . If that tell , the tocsin would be sounded for the fall of every other similar society . They would not tamel y consent to the destruction of a society which had given them all the education they possessed ; and which , in 1848-9 , saved hundreds from becoming the inmates of a Bastile , or from being consigned , starved and diseased ,

    to a premature and dreadful grave . ( Loud cheers . ) He believed that the Legislature of this country would not permit such a society to be destroyed without good reason being shown . The House of Commons was alive to the question of poor rates ; and as £ 58 , 000 , 000 had been expended during the last ten years in poor rates , the value of the Amalgamated Society , which acted directly in relieving the poor rates and the public purse , would not be overlooked . { Hear , hear : ) The public itself would not stand by and aee a combination of capital assaulting a body of such manifest usefulness . ( Hear hear . )'

    Mr . Brown seconded the resolution . Mr . Newton rose next , and Was most warmly cheered . Without preface , Mr . Newton at once entered upon the great question opened up by the Representation of the Masters , signed Sidney Smith— -of capital versus labour . In that document the employers told the men that they had no right to combine , and that they would never consent to negotiate with an irresponsible society ; but it was palpable nonsense to speak of an association like the Amalgamated Society as otherwise than a responsible and most important body .

    " But while the employers Were denying to the men the right to combine , they themselves were combined , and were governing one another by one combination . If you now met an employer in the streets and asked him the reason why he would not open his manufactory , and allow his men to work six days for six days' wages , the answer , in nine cases out of ten was , that he knew very well that the work wanted to be done , that he knew his men wanted to work , and that he himself would like to set to the work , but that he had pledged himself to a certain course in the employers' association , and that until some one gave way with him , he could not be the first . (• Hear , hear , ' and Ifmghter . ) This was combination with its evils ; and a protest against combination came with an exceeding ill grace from men , or from the

    organ of men , who had entered into such a confederacy . { Cheers . ) In the document he held in his hand the employers said that on the 10 th of January the honourable pledge which they had made to each other was fulfilled , and all their establishments were closed . Why , this must be combination . ( Cheers and laughter . ) And it was exactly that species of combination which the men had been in the habit of forming . The employers even used the very terms which the men had always usedthe men having always considered that the resolutions they came to at their meetings were honourable pledges , and that when those pledges were broken the parties breaking them behaved dishonourably . The masters , then , were unionists . ( Cheers . ) The masters had imitated the men . ( Cheers . ) But , worst of all , they had imitated the worst examples of the men . "

    The men had not always been in the right , nor had they acted always rightly ; nor had their demands been always just . " But the employers went far beyond the men in what they claimed . In the manifesto to which he had referred there were some very curious doctrines laid down . Th ey said , 'We alone are the competent judges of our own business ; ' ? we arc respectively the masters of ou r own establishments , and it is our determination to remain so . Well , if this were ao , then the pperative engineers w ere alone competent to decide on tho conditions on whiott their own labour should bo sold . ( Cheers . ) The em' tne

    ployers further sai < J , Ours is the responsibility of details , ours the risk of Iobb , ours the cap ital , its peril * , and its engagements . We claim and are resolved to assert the right of every British subject to do what -we will with our own . ' The answer of the men might be--4 ours is the responsibility of idleness—ours is the risk ol scarcity j ours is the labour , its perils and its engagements . We claim and are resolved to assert the right ol every British subjeot to do what he likes with his own . ( Cheers and laughter . ) Were the operative engineers British subjects or were they not ? ( Cheert and laughter . ) According to the employers they had the right over their capital , over their xeppeqtivo establishment * , oter tneir

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    96 gftt itrg » er * [ Saturda ^

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 31, 1852, page 96, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1920/page/4/