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Leader (1850-1860), 19th August 1854, Edition 1 of 2, Page 782, Untitled Article

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      purification of all Marjdeboae , rents would rise in that borough-parish . But we decline to believe in the chastity of the body if they confine their Christianity to the safe indictment of one or two houses—whose addresses , the vestry confess , are only ascertained through the newspapers .

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      THE EMPLOYERS' REPORT UPON THE PRESTON LABOUR-BATTLE . The privilege of " fighting their battles o ' er again " is one which all old soldiers are very fond of asserting ; and certainly , if it be enjoyed temperately , the practise is , to make the most of it , a harmless amusement . But while to boast after a real victory , is the intemperance of a little mind , to boast after no victory at all , is the lie of a distempered one ; and whether it be the Emperor Nicholas singing Te Deum after the Victory of Odessa , or the Lancashire manufacturers boasting of the Victory of Preston , the fact is equally absurd and criminal .

      Before us lies the " Report of the Committee appointed for the Receipt and Apportionment of the Defence Fund , to the Central Association of Master Spinners and Manufacturers , " a document which has been lately Issued , and very widely circulated , not only among the subscribers to that fund , but also very generally throughout the country * However we may have been inclinedto approach this document-with suspicion , so far as accepting its deductions are concerned i we certainly expected to have found in it some accurate statistics as tc * effects

      of the strike itself . In this * however , we have been grievously - disappointed j for ( oddly enough ) the effects of the strike , instead of being exaggerated , as might have been expected , are considerably underrated j—an error which could not , in this cas * e , have been intentional , but from a want of due carefulness been some unwillingness to make disclosures which plight lead to awkward conclusions as to the wealth in making the calculations . And this opens a door to the charitable supposition that some other errors of these gentlemen have arisen from deficient arithmetic rather than from intention . In computing the wages of their operatives , for instance , might they not readily make a slight error often per cent . ?

      The committee begins its estimate by valuing the " capital sunk in the establishments of the Associated Manufacturers of Preston" at l , O 0 O , O 00 Z . Now , in " An Enquiry into the Origin , Progress , and Results of the Strike of the Operative Cottonspinners of Preston , from October , 1836 , to February , 1837 , " published by Henry Aslnvorth , Esq . £ a document which is indirectly ' referred to in the present report as " a moderate estimate" ) , the capital invested in buildings , machinery , & . c , and the working capital in Preston , was estimated at 800 , 000 / ., and the same document informs us that the mills in which that capital was invested gave employment to

      8500 hands , and required a motive power of 1200 horses power . Now the lock-out threw nearly 20 , 000 operatives out of employ ( 1 G , OOO were relieved by the Union , besides those who became chargeable upon the parish , and those who subsisted upon chance relief ) j the horse-power stopped was close upon 3000 , and when we consider the ratio in which the proportion of machinery over labour has increased since 1836 , the rise and progress of the four-loom system , and the effect of self-acting mules , and other mechanical improvements , it is obvious that the amount of capital invested iu Preston must have at least doubled since that year .

      The next item in the computation is " Estimated trading loss to employers : 50 , 000 / .: " so that the annual aggregate profit of the Preston manufuctxirers is to be computed at something under 70 , 000 / . If this bo true , we can only say that one of these gontlemon is grossly misused by tho incomo-tax commissioners ; for they are beliovcd to assess his gains at 60 , 000 / . per annum , The report then estimates tho " Loss to the contributors to the strike fund , whose contributions have become abortive by its failure , " 117 , 000 / . This is an unpardonable piece of carelessness ; for tho

      balancesheets of the operatives were attainable , and tho flrainers of tho repovt aippcsir to have made sonic sort of use of them , for they divido tho oatirnutc among tho principal contributing towns ; nevertheless , tho estimate is erroneous by moro than 8 C > 00 / . Tho actual amount spent by tho committee , na disclosod by tho balance-shootH , was 105 , 5 . 23 / . 14 a . eifcd ., * of which 9 ;} , 54 f ;/ . J 3 a . Oftil . was ajyeut iu relief , and 11 , 978 / . Is , 3 d . iu tho oxponsoa of tho iigitution . This is tho only item of tho account in which an exact computation is possible , and huro a flagrant error is plainly demoimtrablo . The following cstintuto of tho pecuniary cftbotfi of

      the Preston labour-battle approaches accuracy much nearer than that given in the report : — Trading loss to the employers . 1 . . £ 100 , 000 Loss by depreciation ., interest , and other contingencies 100 , 000 Wages , fuel , and other items , during the strike ( same as report ) ..... 28 , 000 Loss in working machinery with less hands and of inferior description . . 20 , 000 248 , 000 Loss of wages to the operatives during the strike 300 , 000 Contributions to the strike fund ( whether abortive or otherwise none caa certainly tell ) 105 , 500 : 405 , 500 Loss of profit to shopkeepers and innkeepers ( 10 per cent , upon the -wages subtracted from circulation , besides the decreased expenditure of the nianufacttirers' families ) 30 , 000 Loss of rent to owners of cottage houses 10 , 000 Loss to carriers and railway companies , mechanics and trades engaged in the building , fitting , gearing , and repairing of mills .... ..... 20 , 000 60 , 000 £ 713 , 500 A calculation exceeding that of the report by about 33 * per cent . Having thus shown how little this report is to be relied on ^ so far as facte are concerned ^ let us take a survey of the numerous deductions of which it makes so liberal a display . The report declares that " the material facts connected with the recent Preston Strike may be dismissed in a very brief narrative ; " and at once proceeds , to prove the assertion by dismissing all facts most completely . After adverting to the general demand for texi per cent , on the part of the operatives , and its concession on the part of a large proportion of the employers ( who are liere stated to have been " willing to purchase exemption from agitation by some sacrifice of their commercial rights" ) , the report states that : —¦

      "Finding that the concessions made by the employers did practically meet their own demands , the Preston operatives generally accepted the terms -which were offered ; but having withdrawn their acceptance on being commanded to do so by the delegates , it became evident that conciliation only stimulated exaction ; that no alternative was left to the employers but to protect themselves from this dictation—to meet conspiracy by combination—and to show , that so long as they maintained their establishments , they were determined to be the masters of their own property . " Now this is worth an examination . In the month of August , 1853 , every employer in Preston , with the exception of five or six , had granted the ten per cent , required by the operatives . In the five or six cases alluded to , disputes arose between

      the operatives and their employers , in one particular case the operatives being clearly in the wrong , inasmuch as the advance offered was as nearly ten per cent , as common arithmetic could bring 1 it ; in the other instance no advance was conceded . These disputes then resulted in isolated strikes , and the operatives on strike were supported by the funds of their union . The masters then put forward a very remarkable document , in which they declared that they had agreed to givo an advance upon the then rate of wages ; that , notwithstanding this concession , they regretted to find ( we quote from the document ) that the operatives had put themselves under the guidance of a designing and irresponsible body , and

      that the masters had therefore resolved to close their mills until those on stri / tc wore prepared lo > resume their work , and a belter understanding was established between the employer and the employed . In other words , the thirty-five firms who signed tliat document , and tho others who acted with them , having already conceded tho ten per cent ., and having no sort of quarrel with their operatives , threw those operatives out of oinployniont , and exposed them to tho horrors of starvation , and tho demoralising effects of beggary , until other operatives , whoso cm players had not conceded tho ndvance , and who hud matter of dispute with tUcir employers , and over whoso actions they could oxerciso no direct control , except by withdrawing tho slender pittance of assistunoo which was to keep body and soul together , had submitted to tho terms

      dictated to thorn ; and lastly , until a nUito of fueling had been engendered , whiuli it was their own duty to bring about , ami which tluiy woro tlioi * doing all iu their power to obviate and destroy . Can anything ho imagined more illogical and sib .-uml ? And yet thu commit too has tho ftico to declare in its report thut " thu Preston amnloyora utterly rc-fiua to alums In the responsibility of theso consequences . " Consequences } Why what u triumphant jtroof of our civilisation it is that tha consequence-. * were no heavier than they word What other populace but that of England could have Biillorod Unit tho activity of a single town should bopnrulysod l ' or nino mouths , and no pillago , no burning of houses , no bloodshed , not oven serious riot , bo tho consequences ? And if any of those hud boon tho consequences , who would have hesitated to flx tho entire of tho sesponaibUity

      of them upon the Preston manufacturers , in spite even of their utter refusal ? It is impossible to read the above-quoted passage in the Report without noticing the delicately drawn distinction between Conspiracy and Combination ; the Operatives' Union is conspiracy , the Masters ' Association is only a combination . An attempt is made to substantiate , by positive date , the oft-repeated assertion that the combination of Masters was in consequence of the Operatives' Union—an assertion which alone gives a colour to any distinction between the two . But , grave as the charge may be , we are prepared to prove that this assertion and this date is altogether

      untrue , and in support of this charge we adduce a document which ( despite its private nature ) came to us in such a manner that we are guilty of no breach of confidence in giving it publicity . This document is neither more nor less than a copy ^ of the resolutions passed at a meeting of the masters held at the Bull Hotel , in Preston , not in the month of August , 1853 , not after the ten per cent , had been demanded and partly conceded , not after disputes had arisen concerning the partial refusal of that advance , nor even after the agitation at Stockport had given presage of what might be expected at Preston , b utlong anterior to those events—on the 18 th of March , 1853 : —

      At this meeting , over which Thomas Miller , Esq . presided , it was resolved that the Master Spinners ' Association be organised upon the following basis : 1 . That every Member shall support , and receive th , e support of the Association . - _ 2 . That funds for carrying out the objects of the Association Le provided by a levy upon the nominal horse-power employed by each member , at such times and in such amounts as may be agreed upon at a general meeting . 3 . That a Committee of five ( three to form a quornm ) be appointed , to whom all matters affecting the interests of the Association shall be referred , and whose decisions shall be binding upon the Members . [ There are here two resolutions omitted in our copy . ] 6 . That , each firm shall on admission pay five shillings per nominal horse-power to the funds of the Association .

      A * a subsequent meeting , held at the same hotel , on the 31 st of . March , 1853 , Paul Catterall , Esq . in the chair , the following resolutions were agreed to : —¦ 1 . That tlie Master Cotton-spinners' Association be reorganised in conformity with a resolution passed at a meeting held on the 18 th instant , ivith such additions and modifications as the meeting may approve of . 2 . That Messrs . T . Miller , Paul Catterall , W . Birley , J . Paley , junr ., W . Ainswortli , J . Humber , and James Ssaylor , be a committee , with power to fill up vacancies that may occur . 3 . Th-it a call of 5 s . per nominal horse-power be marie , and that the Secretary make the requisite applications to each member .

      _ 4 . That it be imperative upon all members of the Association not . to employ any self-actor minder , or hand-inule spinner , without a written discharge from his previous employer . After giving their estimate of the pecuniary loss caused by the strike , tho framers of the l-eport ingeniously beg the following question : — " Surely there is enough here of loss and ruin to the masters ( IC . 5 , 000 / . in their estimate , 248 ,. 000 £ . in ours ) to render the inference irresistible , that had concession been in any degree compatible with the profitable pursuit of their calling , the employers would not , from mere desire of conquest , have adopted so costly an alternative . " If the employers < : ould have

      forseen the cost of their alternative ( i . e . the Lack-out ) this argument might at least have been plausible ; as they could not , it is altogether untenable . When the Lock-out began there was not a man in the Preston Masters' Association who did not confidently expect that the operatives would be reduced to surrender within six weeks , and it is quite possible that they may have been content to stand tlio cost of six weeks' inactivity to achieve a victory ovor the Operatives' Union . Thirty-six weeks wrb , however , a very different matter . Already are the effects of tho experiment beginning to bo manifested among the masters . Neither 1 ( 15 , 0001 . nor our larger estimate , can be any approximation to the money they luivo lost .

      Upon the delegates the report is particularly ham . By theiv tyranny anil machinery of secret combination , thoy ' forced tho operatives to pluco themselves in uiujraUiful antagonism to tho very establishments on whoso prosperity they solely depend for Nubsistence , &c . &c . lieully one would imagine- that the employers wore not as dependent upon the opuruUvua as lh « operatives aro upon thu employ era , from tho way those gentlemen talk 1 The ( juestion of whether tho cmploj'pra could or could not afford tho ten per cunt , which was

      ( vide thuir own ruHoluliontt and their- replied to the Mediation Committee ) tlio vital point in dispute , is entirely blinked in tho report ; unload , indeed , tiii . s may be tnkcru uh a conclusive argument : — " that tlio wagoa of 1 ' ruuton wore , < uct ris piirifnrn t quite « . *

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      * In oiitinirtting tho total coat of tho tttrilto , wo lmvo dropped tho odd pounds , sliilliiif'H , mul ponce , ioiiI ooutontod ouraelvca with tho round miiulx .-rs : —" Tlio halfpenny bo « omd , " H « id Mr . » J « nt « llni , impatiently . " By nil mount ) , if you vittb . it , " retorted Mr . tfouluy , — - and tho nhu'pcnco too . " *

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      762 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 19, 1854, page 782, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2052/page/14/