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    expectation of Parliament returning to Protection , was confided to Mr . Ball , M . P ., who insisted that as Protection was fairly gone , they should demand that Free-trade be carried out to its utmost , limits ; that there shall be " Free-trade in everything . " Mr . Alderman Thompson seconded , and Mr . Chowler peacefully supported these views . Then came Mr . Ellman , moving that the Association should be dissolved , in which he was seconded by Mr . Cayley Worsley . Other resolutions were passed to wind up affairs , thanking Mr . George Frederick Young for his services , and Mr . Newdegate and Mr . Belie for theirs ; and the doors of the South Sea House closed on the corpse of Protection .

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    THE LABOUR MOVEMENT . COURTS OF ARBITRATION . Some progress has been made in establishing these useful institutions for effecting amicable settlements of differences between employers and employed which exist in France . A very interesting meeting of shipwrights and their employers was held at the Sunderland Lyceum on Saturday night , for the purpose of establishing- a Court of Equitable Arbitration , similar to the Conseils de Prudhommes in France , to which all trade grievances , practical or general , and all projected alterations affecting

    the builder and the workman , might be referred , with a view to their amicable adjustment and to the prevention of strikes and the injurious interruption of business consequent thereon . The proceedings of the meeting were conducted with great good temper by both parties . It was arranged that each should appoint a committee of nine to constitute the proposed Court of Arbitration ; that the decisions of the court be considered final , and that no expressions of approbation or disapprobation be allowed among those witnessing the proceedings , which would take place in the evening , and conclude at ten

    o ' clock . A list of chairmen was agreed to , secretaries appointed , and a rule laid down that no speaker should bo allowed to address the court for more than twenty minutes . During the meeting one of the shipwrights stated that he had made himself acquainted with the operation of Courts of Arbitration in France , and he contrasted t hem with the recent strike of the Amalgamated Engineers in this country . He also mentioned that , in 1846 , the Court of Arbitration in Lyons disposed of 5 , 007 distinct motions in dispute between employers and employed , at a cost of 201 .

    WAGES . The carpenters and joiners of tho city of Bristol have publicly addressed the following circular to their employers generally , in which , it will be seen , they solicit an advance of 6 d . per day on their present rate of wages : — "Qontlomcn , —Wo beg most respectfully to announce that in consequence of circumstances that aro daily thickening around us , and over which we have no control , it is our intention to solicit an advance in tlin price of our ¦ wages ; and , in doing so , permit uh to say that it is not on tlie impulse of tho moment wo are acting , having for

    many years been sensible and havo deoply folt that wo Lave not been remunerated for our labour in a decree proportionate with many provincial towns ; and as tho price of tho articles thai constitute our daily consumption lias considerably advanced , and wo fear still highor prices will ho maintained , wo ( irmly believe that tins prieo of our labour should aim ) advance with it , and that wo have toiled years enough ' from morn to noon , and from noon till dewy eve , ' for what is barely sufficient to maintain us aa honoflt , respectable men , many of uh having largo families to siniDort : and havinjr settled ho amicably the micstion of

    tho bourn of labour , wo trust you will take into your serious consideration the more important question of wages . Deprecating , as we do , any hoatilo feeling towards our employers , believing that tho interest of both parties is boat scoured by a mutual interchange of good feeling , yet , we aro not asking for what may be termed a favour , but tho just and equitable right of" every working man , being his privilege to sell his labour in the dearest market . And in conclusion , gentlemen , we beg to solicit an advance of ( U . per day on our present rato of wages , and that the time of fliieh expectancy bo the Jut ; < lay of March in tlio present year . "

    Tho shipwright * of Bristol " struck , " on Tuesday Tho employers subsequently held a meeting , u < which it wan unanimously resolved Mint the advance , should he assented to . The result was that the men resumed work on Wednesday . It was intinmled , hownver , that if tho ndvanco should be permanent no now orders could lie taken nt present prices . Hourly ( 500 shipwrights , working in tho dockyards at Woolwich and Deptford , have formed u Hoeiety , for tho purpose of emigrating to Australia , and havo invoked tho aid of Mrs . ( Miisliolm . Their griovnnco is , that a Herioun reduction of wages has been ordered by tlio Admiralty , and they see no prospect of ineroiiHO . During tin ; past week : i lm- [ . ; i ! number of men loft both yards , and obtained employment on the river Thames nt 8 * . a day , being just double what i « fit present

    allowed by the Admiralty , while some have obtained employment at Liverpool and other places . Several meetings of the men have recently been held , and it has been stated that in the event of the reply of the Admiralty to their representations' being adverse to their claims , by far the greater portion of the men will tnrn out . In one of the Bristol journals it is stated that there was a vessel now lying at Kingroad , and the owners had sent to Cardiff , ^ Newport , Gloucester , London , Liverpool , and other ports , to get a crew , but could not complete tho required number , owing to the pi-esent great scarcity and demand for seamen .

    The farm labourers of Stratford Sub Castle turned out on Monday for higher wages . The whole of them assembled in a body together , and waited on their employers to demand two shillings per week more ; the wages they had been receiving was from seven shillings to eight shillings per week . Their employers refused to raise their wages , and consequently they proceeded to the Old Castle public-house at Old Sarum , where they were regaled with liberal potations of prime October ; after this they went to Salisbury in a body , and commenced begging from door to door in order to enable them to carry out tlieir object . In several instances liberal sums were given them by tradesmen , and which is to form a fund to pay them wages . One

    of the large farmers sent to Salisbury for his men td see if he could arrange with them , but the labourers would not go unless in a body . It is said that the farmers generally have offered an advance of one shilling per week , but the men are determined to take not less than two shillings . It is believed that the men will succeed . The stream of emigration has been rolling swiftly on in this neighbourhood , aud glittering accounts have been received from those who are at the " diggings , " which , together with the miserable pittance before received by them , are the causes of dissatisfaction , more especially seeing that the strikes at Barford St . Martin and Bishopstone last week have been so successful ; in both cases an advance of two shillings per week has been acceded to . There- is no doubt but that other parishes will follow the example .

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    WOMAN'S INFLUENCE ON POLITICS . Mr . Fox , who was prevented by indisposition from taking an active and personal share in his late victory at Oldham , met his constituents on Friday week . The Working-Men ' s Hall was put in requisition , and Mr . John Platt appointed president . The novelty of the entertainment consisted in the presentation of a testimonial , and the speech consequent on that . Miss Rye , on behalf of 1 G 40 of the women of Oldham ,

    presented the testimonial , which consisted of a beautiful crimson velvet purse , containing 112 sovereigns—the number of the majority by which Mr . Fox won the late election—a signet ring , having a cornelian stone , and the motto , " Education , the birthright of all ; " and an elegant volume , in which the names of the Indies who contributed these gifts were inscribed . The sentiments of the fair donors wore conveyed in a poetical tribute to the honourable gentleman , written on behalf of the ladies by Mr . Critchky Prince , and read by Miss

    ¦ itye . Mr . Fox ' s reply is more than a novolty in meetings of this kind , because it is tlie expression of one of his firmest convictions . lie spoke us follows : — " Words aro wanting to mo to express the emotion with which I rocoivo this handsome and substantial memorial , ho gracefully and beautifully presented by the lady deputed for the purpose * I cannot but feel that this is , indeed , tho proudest tribute which a political man can possibly receive . 1 fool it is tho noblest recognition of whatever I may have done in tlio field of politics—for this reason , that when woman ' s heart is touched by political movements , when woman ' s moral sense accords with the

    exertions of man in tho storms ol public lite , you may be wire there is something mom in it than a mere party question ( cheers)—something more than a mere struggle ( or power . There is in it Unit which appeals to tho commonest and purest principles of our nature ; there is something which tends to tlio edification and elevation of humanity . ( Applause . ) I . regard woman us the conscience of politics , its moral sense , that which argues its refinement , and its exaltation —that which marks it morally as well as politically , and indicaUtH to us tho path which , with our rougher means and in our rougher way , wo should endeavour to trace . ( Hear , hear . ) Some will say , oven in this day , as it has often been said before , and may still ,

    perhaps , bo said in some dark corners ol the country— - Home will say , that woman bus nothing to do with polities . Why , if woman has nothing to do with politicS j an honest man ought to have nothing to do with polities . 'I'hoy lmvo to do with polities . (( 'Inters . ) They koop us pure , simple , just , earnest in our exertions in politics and public life . They have to do with it , because , whilst tho portion of man may be , by tlie rougher labour of the head mid hands , to work out many of tho great results of life , tho peculiar function of woman is to spread g ^ racc und Holiness , truth , Ix-auly , benignity , overall . Nor is woimm confined to this sort of influence ; in fact , I wish her direct , as well ua her indirect , influence was wtjll larger than it iu

    in the sphere of politics . Why , we trust a woman with the sceptre of this realm ; and , adequate to making peers in the state and bishops in the church , surely she must be adequate to sending her representative to the lower house , ( Great applause . ) I know the time may not be come yet for mooting a question of this sort , but I know also that the time will come , and that the time must come , and that woman will be something more than a mere adjective to man in political matters . She will become substantive also ; and why not ? If she chooses , every woman who holds stock iu the East India Company shares in theelec tion of the directors of tho East India House , who elect those who govern our vast Indian Empire . In many of our large parochial matters—in the parish of Marylebone , itself as large as a county , and with its array of numbers and property , women who are householders vote , and ballotThere is

    vote by a mode analogous to that of the . a list of the candidates left at their residences , and they strike out those names of which they disapprove , and leave in the names of those of whom they approve ; and thus they exercise their influence on the general result of parochial management . Then in Lower Canada women vote for representatives . All those who inherit certain freeholds , by a traditionary custom from their forefathers , exercise the elective franchise there , and no complaint that I know of has ever been made of its being abused . Women have not been wanting in the most arduous and stirring times ; they have not been wanting- in whatever could mitigate the sufferings and stimulate the exertions of those who were engaged in arduous conflict . Many years ago I was acquainted with . William Hone , who fought the battle of the freedom of the press with , the Government and the aristocracy , with courts of justice

    a man who was tried for many long hours , on three successive days , on different indictments . First , by Chief Justice Abbot , who was then pushed aside by Lord Ellenborough , who as much as said to him , ' You do not know how to convict a radical , I do ; let me come on to the bench ; ' but Hone obtained the verdict of three juries . What was the position of my poor friend ? When this array was before him his heart sunk within him ; some thoughts of his wife and ten children , crossed bis mind ; he thought of the future with the present ; all the perils of political martyrdom rose in his sight , and he said , ' It must not be , I shall not stay : I will estreat my bail , and be off to America ;' and his wife said , ' You have braved them thus far ; you

    have challenged those powers ; you have dared them to the conflict ; do not leave your children the disgrace of knowing- that you shrunk from it when the moment of trial came . ' Inspirited by her , he went on and succeeded ; and so will men succeed when woman points the path of duty , and urges him to the conflict , however arduous that conflict may be . ( Applause . ) When English arms were victorious in France , the fair Maid of Arc redeemed her country ; and when the French overran Spain , the Maid of Saragossa aggrandised even the antique bravery of the Spanish nation . ( Applause . ) Women are capable of deeds like those are ; and if it be considered that their general sp here should be confined to the discharge of household duties , it . ia as the genii of our hearts and of our homes , and not aa

    drudges , we should there regard them ; and woe be to the man who dares not carry his politics to his own hearth and fireside , and tell his wife his feelings , his principles , his motives , claim the sympathy of woman in the exertions of man , and so give them consecration and an-earnest of the divino sanction . ( Applause . ) They are the pledge of tho success of every great and good cause . I remember when tho anti-corn-law agitation had gone on for several years , there came a great movement of tho women in its favour j there wero gatherings in different parts of the country , and Mr . Cobden exclaimed with delight on tho occasion , Wo shall win now the women are for us . ' ( Great applause . ) So I say of Reform—we shall win when the women show themseivea in favour of it . So I say of the conflict which

    is yet to como ; and why ? It has been so since tho world began . What great work has been accomplished without woman ' s aid ? Would tho emancipation of tho slave havo been accomplished had it not been for the impulse of strength and encouragement from their . sympathy . Wo may go back to the origin of our religion . Who in tho Now Testament record appear as tho most earnest supporters of tlio great Founder of Christianity and of their leader and Naviour F We find women following , ministering to His wants and necessities , and sympathising in His sorrow . Wo never find them among the brutal multitude , shouting ' crucify him , ' but wherever tho success of that TMiro system of religion was to be promoted , they were tho

    last at tho cross and the first at tho sepulchro in overy pluco . ( Applause . ) Jmt my thanks aro duo not only to them , but lo others whom 1 see congregated before mo . You have placed tho ' Norwich Weaver Itoy '—( appluuso ) - —in tho senate of tlio British lOmpire- - ( cheers)—and you have dono ho from no influence of wealth , of station , of oonnoxioh . Why , thero have boon , and I hero are , other honoiirabloinHtanccs of inon who , like myself , bnul amongst the labouring clause ; . ) , havo taken their places in that assembly ; but there is this difference between my case and theirs . They havo made their way by successful industry ; they have accumulated wealth ; they havo acquired station . And influence by their wealth ; and on this liasis they havo erected tho fabric of their v ambition . I . havo never done

    this . I havo never sought to do this . 1 came amongst you with no Hiieh influences . I havo them not . Thor © was only to recommend me the simple forvonoy of my nature in tlio causei of tho classes in which I was born anil broil , and to Mm elevation of which my efforts havo boon uniformly diruotod .-- ( Loud cheers . )" Mr . Fox th (! ii turned his attention to general questions , speaking- at grout length and with his customary eloquence . Mr . Bright also addressed tlio meeting which was in uvcry way a brilliant success . Niibsequonl , l , ho iion-olecforu presented Mr . Fox with a token of tlieir respect for him as a consistent advocate of tho rights of tho unenfranchised ,

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    152 THE LEADER . [ Saturd ay ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 12, 1853, page 152, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1973/page/8/