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Leader (1850-1860), 2nd April 1853, Edition 1 of 1, Page 321

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      Untitled Article

      deadly fight and fearful retribution ! But , alas for the efficiency of Lynch law , " the villains , " says the report , " managed to escape , with the loss of their horses , blankets , &c . ; one , and perhaps two , of them were wounded . " A lame and impotent conclusion , indeed , to a great deal of virtuous indignation .

      Untitled Article

      OFFICIAL CORRUPTION OF THE LATE GOVERNMENT . Loed Derby ' s Administration fares badly , when viewed from the point of view suggested by the general elections * It is admitted that territorial intimidation was never more resolutely practised . We have seen W . B . engaged in purveying for the Derby bribery , and Colonel Forester and Mr . Forbes Mackenzie closely leagued with Mr . Brown ; and now it appears that the Admiralty was as bad as the War-office . Parliamentary papers have been published , which bear out the conclusions of the Chatham Election Committee , and show that the Admiralty unsparingly used its influence in the dockyards . Mr . Stafford , the Secretary to the Admiralty , on his own mere motion , cancelled the regulations , under which all appointments and promotions were made , through the immediate influence of Sir Baldwin Walker , Surveyor of the Navy ; and he did this before the elections , and avowedly because his friends complained , on political grounds , of the way 4 n which the surveyor made his appointments . Sir Baldwin took this as " censure on his conduct , " and tendered

      his resignation . Shortly after , Sir Baldwin laid the whole matter before the Duke of Northumberland . When the Chatham exposure was made , Mr . Stafford denied that any correspondence had passed on the subject , or that Sir Baldwin had offered his resignation ; and , sure enough , the letters of the surveyor were not in the Admiralty archives . But they have been produced by Sir Baldwin himself , and show , conclusively , that he remonstrated , and tendered his resignation . How Mr . Stafford will get out of the difficulty , we

      cannot see . It is pleasant to notice that the present Government have ordered that all promotions shall be made on public grounds , and public grounds alone ; and that any official appointing , or procuring the appointment , of any one on personal or political grounds , shall be instantly dismissed . They have restored the duty of recommending the deserving to the Surveyor of the Navy .

      Untitled Article

      THE WHITE SLAVES OF THE WEST END . Within the fair domain of the ladies who met at Stafford House lies a whole region of slavery where the Aunt Chloes , and Cassya , and ElizaR of the fashionable world toil and moil their lives out for the means of living . A " First Hand" in the millinery and dressmaking line has made a rent in the curtain and disclosed the white slaves at their work . " I will now speak of a recent engagement of mine , and which in the ' one' case will illustrate the majority of the ' West-end houses . ' I held the position of what is called ' first hand / and had 12 young people under me . The season commenced about the middle of March . Wo breakfasted at 6 a . m ., which was not allowed to occupy more than a quarter of an hour . The hard work of the day

      begun immediately . At 11 o ' clock a small piece of dry bread was brought to each as luncheon . At that hour tho young people would often ask my permission to send for a glass of beer , but this was strictly prohibited by the principals , aa they insisted that it caused a drowsiness , and so retarded tho work . At 1 tho dinnor bell rang , which ropast consisted of a hot joint twico in tho week and cold meat the remaining fivo days , no pudding , and a gluss of toast and water to drink . To this meal 20 minutes wero given . Work again till tho 6 o ' clock summons for tea , which occupied 15 minutes . Again to work till called to

      supper at 9 , which also occupied 15 minutes , and consisted of bread , dry cheese , and a glass of beer . All again returned to stitch , stitch , till 1 , 2 , or 3 in tho morning , according to tho business , while Saturday night was being anticipated all tho week , because then no ono would work after 12 . With this ono night ' s exception , all the rest wo had for thrco weeks , from tho ond of May to tho middle of Juno , was from 3 to 6 , while two nights during that tinio wo nover lay down . I leavo your readers to imagine tho spectral countenance !* of us all . I shudder myself when I recall tho picture .

      "At midnight I very frequently lot ull put down thoir work to doze for 10 minutos , while , with my watch on the table , I kept guard , and about 1 each one received a cup of strong tea—as tho principals said , ' in oaso wo should feel sloopy , to arouso all to work . ' In what state of health ould July , tho termination of tho ' season , ' bo expected to find uh poor ' English slaves ? ' Tho homuoI is easily told . Each ono , instead of going to enjoy a little recreation , went homo to lie upon a sick bod . l'or myself , I was attacked with a serious illness , which laid mo up for throo months , and has greatly impaired my constitution . " Now , for this cruel inhuman treatment of womankind , who in dressmaking Ikmhoh toil harder than any labourer in tho brickfield , tlioro is one very simple remedy —employment of a proper nuinbor of hands to do tho work . Thora are always plenty seeking employment , but it is from that ordid lovo of gain that those already engaged may work t uemflelveis into their coffins in order that thoir employer ' s

      cash-boxes may be the more speedily filled . With your permission I will here give a few figures . " I have said that in mine , ' the dressmaking workroom , there were 12 besides myself . There were also seven in the millinery room , ' and one in the show rooms . Out of these 21 young persons the following received salaries : — First-hand dressmaker , 4 > 0 l . ; first-hand milliner , 40 ? . ; second-hand dressmaker , 14 L ; second-hand milliner , 24-1 . ; saleswoman , 201 . ; while all the rest had paid to their employers good premiums to learn the business . Now , every lady who patronises either Bond-street or its immediate neighbourhood , will at once see that the prices they pay for their goods will amply compensate the person whom they employ to remunerate a sufficient number of people to do their work . Would that such ladies would at once come boldly forward and say they will bestow their patronage on none who permit working more than 12 hours a-day , and even that is longer than any one class of men work . The ' Association' in Clifford-street has done all it could to curtail the hours of labour , but even , the houses which it recommends deem from , 7 A . M . to 10 p . m . ' easy

      hours . " I have lately made an application to one of these for an engagement , and upon my stating that my health , would no longer permit my sitting ' long hours , ' I was answered , ' Oh , mine are ' very easy , from 7 in the morning till 10 at night . ' I knew , however , that my altered health will not admit of even these ' easy hours ; ' so I declined it . Perhaps many will say that the system I have spoken of is now rarely adopted . This I positively contradict , as I can prove that it is the general system in ' "West-end houses' while the drawing-rooms , state balls , and fashionable dejeuners and concerts are pending , while perhaps one or two large troussea are in . hand at the same time . "

      She follows up the letter by more revelations , this week , pointing out the " crying evil" in millinery and dress-making houses . The " sleeping rooms , " , as she writes , " more properly ' sleeping pens / in which young people , after a laborious day ' s work , of perhaps twenty hours out of the twenty-four , are expected to rest , to obtain that . refreshing sleep so necessary to fit them for the duties of the day . " In most of these dormitories six , eight , and even ten , sleep . Imagine the putrid air generated by the breath of ten persons sleeping in one close room , without a chimney or any sort of ventilation , with scarcely space to move in , their own trunks and boxes supplying the place of

      washstand , drawers , and dressing-table . This , I assure you , is the case with all the ' assistants' except the ' first hands , ' who always make an arrangement to have either a room to themselves , or shared only with , the other ' first hand . ' But this is more than the other young people dare to ask for—even dare to wish for—on pain of dismissal , with the reproach , ' Oh , you are too particular for houses of business . ' Thus must they quietly submit to all the hardships imposed by their employers ; thus their health is injured and their spirit broken , and they are but living' shadows . If they cannot—dare not—speak , with whom , then , does it rest ? Who ought to speak P Who ought to bring before the public their great oppressions but their ' first hands ? ' I look upon such a house as a ' miniature kingdom ; ' tlie principals as governing it , the ' first hands' as the

      representing the Ministry , the assistants as community , and wo will call the public the judges . Is it not , then , the duty of the ' first hands '—while yet discharging strictly their duty to their employers—to endeavour to remove the evils inflicted on themselves and those undor them ? Such is my view of the case , and , acting upon it , I have come forward single-handed in the cause , which I dq hope will bo warmly taken up by those influential persons who , with ono word , can call thousands to the field of action . At the onsot of my undertaking I was well aware that I should call down upon my head the bitter revenge of all tho principals of these houses , nor was I wrong in my conjecture , for there are but few housos at tho West-end that are not aware of tho name of tho writer of these letters , though it has not been published—being determined , if possible , to iind out who is the enemy who

      so daringly advances alone against so many . " Nowington" Fends a mite in support of tho " undertaking ; " and the following facts . "My sintcr-in-law , an . orphan , was apprenticed , and 30 Z . was paid ; and what for ?—to have tho privilego to work Bovonteeii hours per day for three yearn ; that its , taking tho average , which is quite under tho mark , from seven till twelve for the wholo term , except Sundays both in and out of tho season , and ton minutos were allowed for all moalH , except dinner , and for that fifteen . I hnvo many mornings neon her return from a short walk in the park when 1 havo jtiHt commenced buHinosH , accompanied by many others from the same house , who havo preferred tho quiet walk in tho open air on a summer ' s morn to tho luuity repose , which would only bo broken in ono short hour . "

      In another letter , tho First Ilund points to a still nioro shocking consequence- of the « yntern . " I would ank your permission to mako ono or two observations with reference to tins demoralizing affects produced by the HyHtein carried on in Uicko first-cluMH Iiouhch , and then 1 will not further intrude , but hope that a more talented pen than mine will carry out ( ho objocfc I havo had iu view . On tho Sabbath-day wo are enjoined to meet iik tho house of God for prayer . Alas ! there aro but i \> w young people in thimo houses of business that do ho -and why r Because on tho Sunday morning they are but too glu ' d to avail themselves of that rest denied to them flirough tho week . The afternoons and ovoningH are , in rnnnv canes , passed with friondn , but thoro are also many who , having left thoir country homos for thin groat metropolis to got a living , havo not an acquaintance beyond thoir workroom companions . With no frionda to guide thtiiJ , no timo allowed thorn for rest , Haying nought of

      religious improvement , I ask , are those poor creatures to be moat blamed or pitied who , listening to the alluring tales of the seducer , perhaps one of those despicable characters who are always on the alert for the weaker of our sex , and whom misfortune may have thrown in their path during the Sunday afternoon ' s walk—the seducer , who paints in glittering colours the comparative ease they may enjoy if submitting to his advances ? Are they to be most blamed or pitied who , with this alluring picture before their eyes , and wearied with their existing state' slavery , give themselves up to be tha slaves of sin , without even one thought of the fearful vortex into which they are plunging ? I have witnessed these evils myself , and on remonstrating with those so fallen , this has been the reply , ' Oh , anything to get out of these dens of toil , where all we seem to live for is work . ' If there was proper time

      allowed for bodily and mental recreation , milliners and dressmakers would no longer be spoken as lightly of as at present . Most of them have been well educated , and are fitted for a much more useful sphere than it is their lot to move in , though we do not all possess the same amount of moral courage to resist temptation in the midst of trial . It appears to me that those employers who stand callously looking on while they are precipitately hurrying so many young women to an early grave—who in their establishments are sowing the seeds and witnessing the growth of immorality and consumption in those whom they employ , without stretching out a helping hand to save them , will have a serious account to answer for in that great day of retribution when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed —when prince and peasant shall stand side by side , and each be rewarded according to their works . "

      Shall we have a meeting at Stafford-house to chronicle , whereat the Mistress of the Robes herself will propose some remedy to emancipate the white slaves of the West End ?

      Untitled Article

      « JOURNAL OF RAILWAY ACCIDENTS . Last October , our readers may remember , we recorded an " accident" at the Portobello station on the North British Railway . A train , laden with pig-iron , was left on the wrong line , and consequently ran over by the mail-train . The guard of the goods-train was killed . In consequence , three " officials" were tried at Edinburgh last week before the Lord Justice Clerk , Lord Wood , and Lord Cowan . John M ' Donald , the driver of the goods engine , Thomas Wilson , station-master , Portobello , and John Hogarth , porter , were placed at * the bar charged with culpable homicide , and also culpable neglect of duty—M'Donald for neglecting his duty , immediately on arrival , to proceed with his train to the first offset or siding which would hold it clear of the main linej Wilson for neglecting to give orders immediately to clear the line , as he was bound to do if any goods-train arrived within fifteen minutes of the mail-train , and

      for neglecting to see the necessary signals presented to the mail-train ; and Hogarth for neglecting to present the signals . . Hogarth was acquitted . The charges against the other two were proved . The following evidence by Mr . Rowbotham , the general manager , was subsequently animadverted on by the Court : — " A goods or luggage-train is not allowed to leave fifteen minutes before a mail-train , and it is tho duty of a stationmaster , if it arrives within fifteen minutes , not to allow it to proceed . It was tho duty of the engine-man of tho goods-train to havo removed his goods-train before tho

      mail-train was duo . Threo or five minutes previous would havo been enough . To , havo dono so sooner might havo rather impeded than promoted-the safety of the line . Tho goods-engine had a certain work to do , and if it could do its work within the timo that night , it would rather havo promoted tho safety of tbo lino than obstructed it . Being at the station thirteen minutes before the mail-train , it was not tho ongino-man ' fl duty to take his train immediately off the line , for tho work would then have to bo dono after tho innil-train had passed . I havo not been able to find tho regulations of any company providing that a train at a station should be shunted fifteen or thirteen minutes beforo

      the arrival of tho next train . Tho fifteen minutes m advance ) might bo necessary for a train proceeding on its journey , but not for a train at a station protected by signals . In tho case in question , it wiih a matter of expediency for the engino-man to remove bis train threo to fivo or six minutes before tho passenger-train was expected . When a train is at a station , it ought to be foMilied by a signal , and it \ h wafer to stop at a station than on the lino . I think that they ought to havo begun to tako tho goods-engine on tho line fivo minutes before the mailtrain was due . This could havo been done in two minutes . By tho regulations it wan tho duty of Mr . Wilson , if ho wero there , and if not , the porter in charge , to order tho lino beforo tho

      engine-man to removo the train from tho mail-train wa « due . It wan tho driver ' s duty also to do it of hiniHolf , and even against the orders of tho guard . The guard of the train wan the proper person to select tho manner of shunting the waggons , and to prcHcribo the evolutions of tho train , and it wan the engine-man ' s dufor to oboy , unions ho thought there would bo danger in executing tho orders of the guard . Although by tho rule * tho goo < ln engino-man w inntruoted to have the lino cleared fifteen minutes previous to the expected arrival of a pftHHongor-train , thoro ure Home of the rulos we should not oxpeot to bo bo strictly enforced in tho case of a pilot or jobbing engine , and especially in eases of omergency . I think IhiH was a ease of timerr / enoif . "

      The Lord . JuHtico Clerk , in charging tho Jury , said , the prisoners were charged with culpublo homicide und culpable neglect of duty .

      Untitled Article

      April 2 , 1853 . ] , THE LEADER . 321

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 2, 1853, page 321, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1980/page/9/